AN elderly Mexican woman developed a deep devotion to St. Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila. She would pray before the statue of the Filipino saint every time that she visited her church to ask for his intercession, especially for the safety of her son.
One day she learned that the police arrested her son and put him in jail. She immediately went to her church to pray to St. Lorenzo Ruiz.
That evening her son walked into her home to tell her the good news that he had been released from jail. Then she noticed the attire that her son was wearing. He was wearing one similar to that of St. Lorenzo Ruiz in his statue at the church: black long pants, a white long sleeve shirt, and a pair of sandals. She thought that this was a confirmation of her answered prayers to God through the intercession of St. Lorenzo Ruiz.
The following week, a priest visited her in her home. She asked for the name of the priest. To her big surprise, the priest’s name is Lorenzo! And again, she noticed the priest’s attire: black long pants, a white long sleeve shirt, and a pair of sandals. This can’t be a coincidence, she mused. It’s another confirmation of the powerful intercession of St. Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila!
It’s amazing to hear that devotion to St. Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila has spread even among Hispanic parishioners. It’s inspiring to hear the simple faith of people in the pews—that many events don’t happen by chance or accident, but are truly God’s ways of revealing his providence, love and mercy, such as an answered prayer.
We’ve seen this happen in the present life of the Catholic Church. For example, the leadership of Pope Francis that has inspired many people, including world leaders, non-Catholics, and non-believers, didn’t just happen by chance nor is it a political move. Many of us believe that his papacy is the fruit of the Church’s prayers and a manifestation of God’s providence. It’s the work of the Holy Spirit that is guiding the Church, especially during troubled times.
I see this work of the Holy Spirit clearly in my small world here in the seminary in various instances: when I hear the vocation stories of our students; when I observe their zeal to the priesthood; and when I see their journeys of faith in God in their writings.
Dermot A. Lane writes in his book, The Experience of God, An Invitation To Do Theology: “The question of God for us today in the twenty-first century, as distinct from any other century, is about the possibility of experiencing God in the world. Where do we experience God in life? At what point(s) in human experience does the reality of God impinge on human experience? The mystery of God is not some kind of theorem to be proved; it is rather, an experience to be lived.”
The elderly Mexican lady experiences God through the powerful intercession of St. Lorenzo Ruiz. We, Catholics, see God’s hand working in the church and the world through the life and ministry of Pope Francis. Seminarians continue to hear God’s call to the ordained priesthood. The God that we worship is one who is absolutely involved in our lives and continues to communicate to us. May we never fail to see and to hear him speak to us even in the ordinary events of our lives! Amen.
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From a Filipino immigrant family, Reverend Rodel G. Balagtas was ordained to the priesthood from St. John’s Seminary in 1991. He served as Associate Pastor at St. Augustine, Culver City (1991-1993); St. Martha, Valinda (1993-1999); and St. Joseph the Worker, Canoga Park (1999-2001). In 2001, he served as Administrator Pro Tem of St. John Neumann in Santa Maria, CA, until his appointment as pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary, Los Angeles, in 2002, which lasted 12 years. His term as Associate Director of Pastoral Field Education at St. John’s Seminary began in July 2014.
