By Gee-Gee O. Torres

It’s been two years since I visited our Filipino missionaries in Korea.  But how could I forget Fr. Willy Jesena, CSsR and the long walk we had going to their Formation House?  After he said Mass for the Filipino Community, he invited Rheena, one of our Filipino Columban lay missionaries, and me to go and see their house.  We were delighted with the invitation.  We took the subway and then the bus.  When we got off the bus, we began walking.  While walking along the narrow streets, I kept asking Fr. Willy what’s this and that.  And unfortunately the colorful rice cakes caught my attention.  Fr. Willy didn’t have any choice but to buy me some to satisfy my curiosity.

Fr Willy and brothers

Long walk

Rheena and I didn’t realize it was going to be a long uphill walk.  (Korea is 70% mountainous).  Fr. Willy was so relaxed walking and chatting away while we were busy catching our breath.  Wow, at 62 Fr. Willy walks this way every day! When we finally reached their house, we sat on the floor Korean style – cross-legged.  Then we set the colorful rice cakes on the low table and with a cold drink we enjoyed eating our merienda.

The Pioneers

Fr. Willy Jesena, from Iloilo, is one of the pioneers of the Redemptorist Fathers in Korea.  He came toKorea in 1991 with two other confreres from Brazil and Thailand.  The coming of the Redemptorists in Korea all began during their General Chapter Meeting in 1985 when their major superior inBangkok shared with them his dream that the Redemptorists would someday go to Korea.  This dream became a reality when they were invited in the Archdiocese of Seoul by Bishop Peter Kang, the then Auxiliary Bishop of Seoul.  He invited them to come and share their charism with the local church by giving “spiritual direction” (religious instruction and moral guidance) to their lay people, many of whom were new converts to the faith.  By 1991 August 1st, feast of St. Alphonsus, the Congregation was inaugurated in Korea.

Your will be done

When Fr. Willy learned that they were going to open a new mission in Korea, he volunteered to go.  “There was this deep call to share the Gospel to others.” He was chosen among the five final candidates.  However Fr. Willy didn’t keep his hopes high, though he was very eager to go.  One of the criteria was age; it shouldn’t be over 45 years. He was the oldest among the applicants – 53. The other finalists were seminarians whom he used to teach.  He surrendered his fate to God and said, “Lord, your will be done.”  He was chosen.

Challenges along the way

“It wasn’t easy when I came in 1991,” said Fr. Willy.  “I read articles about Korea before I left for the mission, but that wasn’t enough.  When I came it was really different.  To begin with, the weather.  I needed four seasons of clothes – summer, autumn, winter and spring.  Next learning the Korean language, hangul, at an age when my memory retention is not that good anymore.  When I said my first Korean Mass we had a good laugh because I made so many mistakes.”

These were just a few of the difficulties Fr. Willy encountered.  But despite this he finds his work inKorea fulfilling. In their ten years in Korea they have been blessed with many local vocations.  They have had at least seven ordinations and still counting.  Fr. Willy says it’s most satisfying to see their Korean members now taking the lead in their formation programs.  Had Fr. Willy not pursued his desire to go to Korea because of his age he wouldn’t be here today to see how great the harvest is.

By Fr Frank Pidgeon CSsR

Warly comes from Bukidnon, from a remote barrio on the island of Mindanao in Southern Philippines.  She is barely thirty, the mother of four.  Her husband is a farmer.  Warly completed her high school education, but she didn’t manage to go to college.

However any lack in her education is more than compensated for by a sturdy but gentle character.  Warly is a woman of surprising maturity, one who thinks and expresses herself clearly and rationally.  Thirty years on the rice fields of Bukidnon, of untiring devotion to her husband and children have taught her to eliminate all show from her life.  Warly is not given to exaggeration.

Terror in Hong Kong

The need to ensure a better education for her children led her to make the difficult decision to leave home and work as a domestic helper in Hong Kong.

Nothing in her previous life could have prepared her for the torment she suffered barely a month after arriving there.  The memory of her ordeal stiffly haunts her.  During the few hours we spent with her, she frequently lapsed into silence, her face reddened and tears began to form in her eyes.  Powerful emotions were flooding her heart at this time.  Her inner turmoil was evident.

It happened in the Causeway Bay Apartment on the morning of February 25, 2000.  Warly, newly arrived in Hong Kong, accidentally burned the camisole of her employer, Ms. Liu Man-kuen.  In a fury, the employer ordered her to place both hands on the ironing board.  Seizing the hot iron, she pressed it firmly across the back of her hands.  “This is your punishment for what you have done,” she shrieks at her.

Punishment indeed.  Warly Achacoso’s hands are scarred for life.

Too little punishment

Christians believe that all suffering, no matter how hideous, is redemptive.  With this in mind we try to make sense of Warly Achacoso’s ordeal.

We cannot excuse what has been done.  Warly herself has declared that she “will never forgive” her employer for what she has done.  “She deserved what she got (18 months in jail),” said Warly, the day the sentence was announced.  “What do you think now?” we asked her. “Kulang (it’s too little),” Warly answered.  And yet, as a measure of her goodness and self-respect, she declared in the same breath that “not all Hong Kong employers are bad”.  Remarkably, she still wants to continue her work inHong Kong.

Out of Job

After her employer was sentenced, the magistrate recommended that Warly file a civil complaint for damages.  Nobody could question that a civil suit is the way to go.  But there is a difficulty.  Her conditions of stay in Hong Kong do not permit her to be employed while a case, either criminal or civil, is underway.  The civil case could take years before being resolved.  In the meantime Warly will be out of a job, and out of pocket.

TNT (Tulay ng Tagumpay) believes that in a case as notorious as Warly’s, Immigration might allow an exception.  There is a further suggestion.  Many years ago, a domestic helper in Singapore who came to be known as the ‘Iron Lady’ had a hot iron applied to both cheeks and upper thighs by her employer.  Like Warly she had burned the garment of her employer.

Barbaric act compensated

Singapore was outraged.  Less perhaps for Mercy’s ordeal and more that a barbarian was discovered living in the city state.  A ‘barbaric’ deed like this was not supposed to happen in a caring society.  Ages past slaves were routinely branded with hot irons, but this was slick, sophisticated, squeaky-clean Singapore in the early 1990s.

After her employer’s trial and conviction, one of Singapore’s leading plastic surgeons offered to repair Mercy’s cheeks and thighs free of charge.  A year following the delicate surgery, the damage done to Mercy’s face was barely perceptible.

Is it too much to hope that something similar might be done for Warly?

Has Warly suffered in vain?

Legco Councilor Ms. Choy So-yuk claimed that the sentence imposed by the magistrate was too harsh.  It would only cause “fear” among employers “because they may be heavily penalized if they abuse their domestic helpers.”  Wasn’t this exactly what the magistrate had in mind?  Employers need constant reminders that they have to take good care of their helpers. The sentence imposed on Warly’s employer reminds them of the consequences they can expect if they maltreated them.  The employment contract is not a permit to abuse.

If Warly Achacoso’s case leads to better treatment for the thousand of domestic helpers inHong Kong then Warly will not have suffered in vain.

Pack of Lies

Ms. Liu Man-kuen’s defense lawyer tried to show that Warly’s wounds were self-inflicted.  No one really believed that a woman as serene and composed as Warly, a mother of four would do such a thing.  Nor did the magistrate believe the story either.  He threw out the claim, branding Ms. Liu’s story as a “pack of lies”.

What is puzzling is how Warly allowed both hands to be branded.  So we asked her.  “She burned both hands at the same time.  She asked me to place my hands on the ironing board.  Which I did.  Then holding one hand with her own and using her forearm to pin my other hand to the table, she burned me.  There was no struggle.”  We must remember that Warly was only one month in the country.  She was only a maid.  Even to the extent of preparing her hands to be branded by her employer.

An isolated incident?

An official of the Philippine Consulate believes that the case of Warly Achacoso was “an isolated incident”. If he means that it is not every day that an employer clamps a hot iron on her helper’s hands, we would have to agree.  But abuse, whether physical or psychological, is by no means isolated.  Much of it goes unreported.  Long after the event, domestic helpers will come forward to tell us that they chose to remain silent for fear of losing their job.  That abuse is not more common is both a tribute to the humanity of the employer and her helper’s flexibility and patience.

There is not trace of bitterness in Warly’s voice when she tells us that “not all Hong Kong employers are bad.”  Kevin Sinclair, respected columnist with the SCMP says that generally domestic helpers are well treated in Hong Kong.

Was Warly’s torment an isolated case because it is one of the few cases that have come to trial and been resolved in favor of the victim?

Ugly remembrance

“I’ve told my husband and my parents about what has happened.  But I cannot bear to tell my children.  This would only frighten them,” she says quietly.  As she speaks, she looks at her hands, and then buries them in her armpits, as if to put to rest forever the memory that rises to torment her.

Salamat sa TNT

By Fr Donal Halliden MSSC

On a late summer day in August 1940, while driving my mother to town, my eldest brother, William, already an ordained Columban, suddenly said, “If Donal wants to go to Dalgan he might as well go this year.”  Dalgan was the major seminary of the Columbans in Ireland.  I was still in high school but I had passed the matriculation examination of the National University of Ireland and on this basis I would be accepted in Dalgan.

Five Vocations in a Family

If my mother was surprised, she did not show it but I do remember her saying, “Anyone who wants to serve the Church cannot be selfish.”  My father still had to be consulted and he readily gave his consent even though I was the fourth of his five sons wishing to enter the priesthood, three of us as Columbans and the fourth as a secular for our diocese.  A fifth vocation was to come to the family later when our younger sister, Maureen, entered the local convent of the Sisters of Mercy.

The Halliden Brothers: (L-R) Jerome, Patrick, Donal and William

Sure Aspirant

So it was then that I found myself a first year student at St. Columban’s, Dalgan, in September 1940.  But I still had to be interviewed by the Dalgan Rector and by Fr. John Blowick, co-founder of the Columban Society.  My brother Jerome, then in his 6th year as a Dalgan student, got me a new, ready-made soutana on my first day and when I arrived at the interview room I was already wearing it.  Fr. Blowick remarked with a grin, “It looks like you have come to stay!”  I remember being asked why I wanted to be a missionary priest.  Without hesitation I said that it was in making the “Stations” (Way of the Cross) that I saw how Jesus loves us totally and I wanted to return that love and make it known to others.

Dalgan Spirit

My seven years at Dalgan were very happy.  I lived in an atmosphere where fraternal kindness and support dominated.  Critically too the disciplinary system was based on the student taking personal responsibility for his growth and formation.  This system, known as “Dalgan Spirit”, enabled one to mature quickly and to build a character that would sustain him in his future missionary life. 

50 years and more

My missionary assignment to the Philippines in 1947 was a most felicitous one.  For more than 50 years now, the abundant grace of God, the support of fellow Columbans and the kindness of the Filipino people have made my life a time of great joy and fulfillment.  In spite of the inevitable hardships and two breakdowns of health, I have been blessed with gladness and peace.

My first five years on mission in Mindanao were spent in parish ministry at Aurora in the Diocese of Zamboanga. I was then asked to accept a teaching post in Ozamiz at the Immaculate Conception College which was administered by the Columban Sisters.  This proved to be a turning point in my life as the next 40 years were spent in ministry to students.  After two years at Ozamiz, I was assigned toIligan City for teaching and administrative work in the parochial high school and in the RVM Sisters’ St. Michael’s College.

Ministry with young people

A major shift came in 1964 when I was transferred to Manila as chaplain to Centro Escolar University. I remained at that post for 30 years. Concern for young people is a special interest of mine.  Indeed it is a top pastoral priority of the Church and there is no greater example of this than Pope John Paul’s extraordinary success in reaching out to them.  We saw this in Manila in 1995 and it was evident again two years ago in Rome when he used words among the most touching of his pontificate.  These were words of affection and encouragement as he declared, “Young people of the world, you are my joy and my crown!”  The Holy Father always challenges the youth to be strong and authentic in following Christ and in helping to build a new society, telling them, “If you are what you should be, you will set the world on fire.”

My Secret

I feel the good Lord gave me the precious gift of empathy with young people.  When a religion coordinator in a Catholic university asked me what was the “secret” of my relationship with students, I told her, “I believe it is the fact that I truly love them and they sense it.”  When young people experience love from adults, they more readily believe in and respond to God’s love, which is what life is all about. On Holy Thursday we pray, “Love of you with our whole heart, Lord God, is holiness.”

My ministry has been greatly inspired by a vision beautifully expressed by the late Cardinal Basil Hume:  “We want our people to walk as if they could see the invisible and to have fallen in love with God.”

 

By Susan Severino

Susan “Yet” Severino is a close friend of the editor. She comes from Silay, Negros Occidental but at present works in Canada.  In the recent past she has had a difficult encounter with cancer.  She shared her thoughts privately with Fr. Niall O’Brien who asked her permission to share them with our readers.  These will bring light to many who are also traveling through this dark valley.

One fine spring morning I sat in my doctor’s office and learned that I have cancer.  I could hardly believe what I heard.  But I knew what I have always believed in.  I believe that whenever and wherever I find myself in any trouble, crisis, challenge or dilemma I could always bring myself in front of Jesus.  I believed with all my heart then and there I would not be alone in facing this devastating news.

The first place I wanted to be

As I left the clinic I remember whispering to myself one of my favorite mantras in time of distress.  The opening words in the Last Discourse of Jesus:  “Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Have faith in God and have faith in me.”  I was repeating this to myself every step of the way until I reached the church where I wanted and needed to be.

Lost Mom to breast cancer

In the half-hour span from the clinic to the church I went through a whole gamut of emotions. Images and memories of our mother flooded my mind.  In 1975 we lost Mommy, a breast cancer victim, and our family then witnessed the ravages of the disease and the toil of cancer treatments on her.  I was starting to feel scared.  I was hoping there could have been some mistake and that when I get to see the breast specialist there would be no confirmation on the findings.  I was confused, perplexed and so disturbed.

Gift of Faith

The church was quiet and empty, too early for the noon Mass but just the right time to pray in silence.  I knelt before the picture of Jesus crucified and simply begged for the grace of inner peace.  I attended the noon Mass with a troubled heart.  Yet it is in moments like this I can say with full conviction that I am most grateful for the gift of faith.

My Dying Dad

I cannot recall how long I stayed inside the church but I do remember being alone. In the silence of the church, in the silence of my innermost being I began to feel a sense of God’s presence.  It was a feeling of profound trust in a merciful and compassionate God.  It was akin to what I felt many years ago in the hospital room of my father.  Dad was then seriously ill and dying. It was that evening when Father O’Brien had just celebrated Mass and our reading was on the gospel of St. John 14:1-21.  The words of Jesus were such comfort.  I still remember telling Father O’Brien that the words of Jesus touched me so deeply that I no longer felt afraid that Dad was going to die.  My fear was transformed to courage and faith.  I felt an assurance from the power of God’s words that I was not going to be orphaned as long as I live abiding in the love of God.

Time and time again I find that my faith has been made stronger and deeper by the Word of the Lord.  All the time, I experience in different moments of my life that God’s Word heals and restores me, especially during this period of my sickness and recuperation from my cancer treatments.

Blessings taken for granted

Being “home-bound” for the most of the past nine months has presented me in many fascinating ways and opportunities to become more aware of the gifts and blessings in my life which ordinarily I may have taken for granted or perhaps simply have not taken the time to appreciate.  I have experienced the reality of what John Henry Cardinal Newman said:  “God has created me to do Him some service.  God has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another.  I have my mission.  I am a link in a chain, a band of connection between persons.  I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place while not intending it if I do but keep His Word.  If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him.  God does nothing in vain.  God knows what God is about.”

With or without cancer

So, throughout my struggle with cancer I have not allowed it to victimize me.  As many cancer survivors would vouch, cancer is so limited.  Cancer survivors claim that cancer has not succeeded to cripple their love, shatter their hope, corrode their faith, nor interfere in many areas of my life.  I believe I can always make a choice on how to live my life with or without cancer.

My choice has been simple. It is a choice that has carried me through this present crisis.  A choice also which had empowered me in many past instances of my life whenever faced with a difficult situation.  I place myself in the presence of God’s love, abide in God’s word and choose to follow Jesus as the Way, the Truth and the Life without hesitating to humbly ask, “Please show me the Way…Your Way.”