TRUST IN A MOTHER'S LOVE (Published in Kerygma Magazine - One Last Story section last March 2003)

The air was still crisp and cool. After all, it was barely 6AM. And yet the energy of the boys was already palpable.
As the school's spiritual moderator, I wa accustomed to the routine of allowing the boys to enjoy breakfast and a short rest after the dawn festivities, right before the celebration of the Holy Mass. I hurried through my usual duties in the midst of the flurry, intent only on keeping to the schedule.
And then I bumped into our assistant principal who had an 11- year old boy in tow. She quietly explained that the boy, Ian Cortes, needed to go home right away - because his mother just passed away.
I was struck with sadness by the news. My heart went out to Ian who was surely too young to lose his mother. I watched the tears rolling down his face and went down on my haunches to be more on eye level with him. "We will pray for your mother, during our Mass," I said. "The priest will also offer a Mass for her and for you, and I promise to visit your mother's wake."
Ian merely nodded. And his serenity and composure inspite of the tears gripped me.
The next day, exhaustion had set in. Quite frankly, I wasn't too keen on going to the wake anymore. However, Ian's peaceful yet sad face haunted me, and I found myself talking to Ian's father not long after. I came to know how much the family had lost to medical and doctors' fees and how, inspite of their hardship, the family's faith kept them going. Ian's father said, "My wife died at 3AM, just before Ian was leaving for school. We were all grieving, Ian most of all, but he insisted that he had to attend the Dawn Rosary Rally in school. I did not understand why he wanted to do this, but I saw that he would persist and so I allowed him to go. Ian went to his dead mother to bid her farewell, and then his uncle saw him off."
When I heard this, I turned to Ian. "Why did you want to go to the rally, Ian? I asked. He didn't reply. But in his serene face I thought I saw the answer. "Was it because you wanted to pray for your mom and entrust her to our real Mother in heaven?" At once, Ian nodded. And smiled. In his smile, I read that his mother's love during her lifetime reassured him that she would not mind that he had left her to seek solace in his Mother Mary during his time of grief.
I found that I had no more questions to ask. I reached down to pat Ian's head and said goodbye.
That night, alone in my room, I thanked God for allowing me to know Ian and his family. I acknowledged that my wavering faith as a priest had needed a child's simple faith to reawaken it. And then I turned to Mary, our Mother, and asked her to take Ian's mother and lead her to Jesus, just as Ian had prayed. Thank you Mama Mary for loving us!