Become a good news!

The past weeks have been a heyday for various mass media outfits. There was a knee-jerk reaction from various fronts on the move of the lower house to change the constitution. The A(H1N1) fever also created some hullabaloo stealing the limelight from the local political scene. Not to mention the equally scandalous fanfare conjured by that infamous video featuring a cosmetic doctor leaked out to the Internet for the entire world to see.

These news paint the atmosphere of the country rather bleak. And hopelessness seems to be the order of the day. With these things at hand, it's not just difficult to look into the future with a sense of optimism; it's a scary affair altogether.

Today is the 24^th of the month. For others, this day may not have any significance at all. But for us who are sons of Don Bosco, we are aware that the concurrence of the numbers two and four of each month is a special day for us to commemorate the Blessed Mother.

We just had the commemoration Mass earlier. But apart from the extra dose of practices of piety we observe today in honor of the Blessed Mother, the 24^th of each month reminds us that we don’t journey alone. Mary continues to walk with us and she loves us to no end. Despite the raging bad news that storms our life, we care to note that there is still good news, after all.

And so, let me share with you Psalm 23 with some little modifications:

My mom is my shepherd; I shall not want. She makes me lie down under cool, downy comforts. She watches me play beside still waters. She restores my soul.

She leads me in paths of respect, responsibility, and goodness, for I am her namesake!

Yea, even though I walk past monsters in the dark, I will not be scared, because my mom is always near me. Her hands and her voice, they comfort me.

Mama sets the table and cheerfully calls me to dinner even in front of big, mean bullies.

She anoints my skinned knees and broken heart with kisses. She smiles and throws me a towel when my cup runs over.

Surely God's peace, power, and mercy shall uphold me all the days of my life, for my Mother taught me to dwell in the house of God forever.

The Blessed Mother is indeed a good news. She was the relief of the newly-wed couple in Cana, she was the comfort of her cousin Elizabeth, she was the lasting refuge of her dying Son at the cross.

In our Gospel sharing last Saturday, Br. Sami said something to this effect: “I am limited in the postnov. I cannot travel across the globe to remedy the problem happening in Iran, Greece, Pakistan… The most that I could do is to do good to the people most proximate to me.”

As her sons, we are, too, expected to be a good news to others. Forget about the universal grand scheme to save mankind. We are invited to do the littlest things that we could in order to make heaven happen. Right here. Now.