By Macelinda Diaz Verano

I still could not believe that we were the Grand Champions of the whole Philippines in the Third National Catholic Family Bible Quiz held recently at Manila Peninsula Hotel in Makati.

‘Am I dreaming?’

Of course, I wasn’t; it was more of a dream coming to reality. Months before it seemed to be a vision which I thought could only happen in dreams or through a miracle, notwithstanding the hurdles that we had passed before we finally made it here – the pressures of everyday living, the negative feelings of anxiety, fear, doubt and exhaustion, the responsibilities our family members had to attend to. The list could be endless. Yet through it all, God has given our family this precious gift – a miracle to remind us to trust in Him no matter what.

This reminded me of the many trials I encountered in the past which made me think there were no solutions.

In 1979, my husband lost his government job. His superiors were not happy with him because he would not sign papers for ‘Ghost Deliveries’. My children were still very young and to rear seven without a stable income was not an easy task.

Both of us were jobless because I resigned when I had my first-born. I preferred to take care of my kids to having my job in the office. We had only a small sari-sari store, a motorcab, a little income from our coconut land and a boarding house I inherited from my parents. The income was sufficient for us at the beginning. But when my children grew up and reached college, we were buried in debts. Our land titles were loaned to the bank and all our jewelry was pawned. It was terribly hard for us financially, to the point that I would even ask myself, ‘Where shall I find rice to cook for our next meal?’

The author is third from the left in the front row.

However, through those hard times, we were still devoted to the Lord. We were active in Couples for Christ (CFC) and in our parish and chapel. My husband was a Lay Minister. I was a Catechist while our children joined the Knights of the Altar and the church choir. We attended Mass together as a family.

Yet in spite of our faith in God, our troubles affected my health. I woke up one morning to find my two legs trembling and I had no control over them. My heart beat so fast and it was hard for me to breathe. I really did not understand what was going on. My doctor said, ‘What you have is due to the anxieties and worries. Try to loosen up a bit and have fun!’

She prescribed a nerve relaxant. I felt calm every time I took the medicine but when its effect relapsed, the symptoms kept coming back. So I relied on the medicine for a long time.

Meanwhile in the CFC, we had signed a covenant ‘to read the Scriptures everyday for at least fifteen minutes’. One day, Isaiah 41:10 struck me:
‘Do not be afraid – I am with you!’

I am your God – let nothing terrify you!

I will make you strong and help you;

I will protect you and save you.’

I memorized the verse. I prayed it with faith every time I had the ‘attack’. I felt calm and relaxed as I uttered it.

One time my eldest son Rolito, who is a special child, had his legs beaten up by a bad guy at school and was lame for several days. Due to the incident, he had tantrums every day. He threw everything that he could grab. He broke our table glass as well as our cassette player. He even tore the T-shirt that he was wearing. He bumped his head on the wall many times while uttering bad words. He used to lock himself in his room and destroyed anything he could get hold of. He wouldn’t take a bath or go with us to church, as he used to. I had a difficult time calming him down. It was more difficult whenever I was alone, handling his tantrums while my other children were at school. My husband Lito was in Carmona, Cavite, at the time working as a casual employee of Manila Southwoods.

The psychiatrist who examined my son prescribed various kinds of vitamins and plenty of medicine usually given to drug addicts. But he became worse and we decided to bring him to Manila for further management.

Macelinda Diaz Verano with her family and friends.

Despite my anguish, I did not give up my devotion to the Lord. I even discovered that the more I read the Bible, the more courageous and strong I became. Among the verses that comforted me much were: ‘I am with you always’ (Matthew 28:20); ‘If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask in prayer’ (Matthew 21:22); ‘I have strength to face all conditions by the power that Christ gives me”(Philippians 4:13); ‘Let it happen then as you believe’(Matthew 9:29); ‘I am telling you the truth: those who believe in me will do what I do – yes, they will do even greater things’ (John 14:12); ‘Everything is possible for the person who has faith’ (Mark 9:23); ‘I assure you that whoever tells this hill to get up and throw itself in the sea and does not doubt in his heart, but believes what he says will happen, it will be done for him’ (Mark 11:23) and ‘Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed’ (Romans 10:11).

At one time I was drug dependent but by constantly reading these verses, my faith deepened. I decided to stop all my medications. I was determined to train my mind to believe – erase all the doubts in my thoughts. God is not a liar, is He? My faith in Him worked! Praise the Lord!

Proven as effective, I applied the same to my son. I stopped all his medications and instead I had him ‘prayed over’ everyday. Now, you can talk to my 31-year-old special son who can speak English, thanks to his special education teacher, Sister Clement Sheehy, a Columban Sister who has now returned to Ireland. We miss her very much . . . I owe to her the progress of my son!

But even then my problems didn’t wane. For almost three years I suffered hemorrhaging. My stay in the hospital was unbearable since it involved a lot of money. I went twice to Cebu for check-ups by different doctors, yet their diagnosis turned out to be the same – I had a growing cyst in my womb. I submitted myself for Dilatation and Curettage (D&C), but still the bleeding continued.

As I was taking the medicines the doctors prescribed, it so happened that I read the literature about the injections and tablets they constantly gave me. I learned that prolonged usage of them could have an adverse reaction that could result in blindness. I even had a cousin who took the same vials and tablets. She is now experiencing blurred vision.

‘Lord’, I prayed. ‘I do not want to be blind!’

From then on, I discontinued everything, even the check–ups. I recuperated at home. My two elder sisters who had hemorrhaged months earlier had already been operated on. They had their wombs removed.

‘But I don’t want any operation!’

So, I prayed. During my fervent prayers, a vision flashed in my mind many times. I was always reminded of that woman in the Bible who suffered twelve years of severe bleeding. She said to herself, ‘If only I can touch His cloak, I will get well!’ With my eyes closed, I could imagine myself clearly as that woman touching the edge of Jesus’ cloak.

‘Courage my daughter, your faith has made you well’ Jesus said to the woman. (Matthew 9:20-22). By God’s mercy, my womb is still intact right now and the bleeding ceased.

Yes, I am a witness to God’s miracles. Once again, He revealed himself to us through this Bible Quiz. The experience in Manila itself is a very great blessing for us.

‘Help us, O Lord! What is the answer?’

I remembered when we were on our way to a restaurant for supper, one of our guides from the Secretariat told us: ‘Sa dalawang beses na ginanap ang National Catholic Family Bible Quiz dito, laging kulelat ang mga taga Mindanao!’ (‘For the past two National Catholic Family Bible Quizzes held here, participants from Mindanao were always at the bottom!’)

During the rehearsal, we had time to meet the other families from different regions. Looking at them, I felt a little nervous especially because there was a rumor about the backgrounds of two of our competitors. One was said to be an ex-pastor, the other an ex-seminarian.

‘Oh my God!’ I exclaimed ‘We are also outnumbered by them!’ I whispered to my daughter who was seated at my right. Mary Grace comforted me by citing 1 Maccabees 3:19, ‘Victory in battle does not depend on who has the largest army; it is the Lord’s Power that determines the outcome.’
Deep inside, I prayed hard and remained in my most favorite passage – Matthew 21:22.

‘But let thy will be done Lord,’ I ended.

Before the proclamation of the winners, the NCFBQ chairwoman, Madam Elvira Yap Go, gave on-the-spot different verses for the family to read and to share what in the verses struck us most. Ours was St Luke 4:16 – 18. When I read the phrase, ‘The spirit of the Lord is upon me’, I was assured that very moment that our prayers had been granted and that was it!

‘Praise the Lord! All glory be to Him forever and ever! Amen!’

You may write the author at 49-6 Rizal Avenue, Lam-an, 7200 Ozamiz City, Philippines, or email her at vmacelinda@yahoo.com