BOKASYONG AGUSTINO MINISTRY

While taking the seminary dogs to walk around Intramuros, I found this tiny creature by the roadside. It looked cold and hungry. It looked very frail. I picked it up and brought it to my room. I asked one of the seminary staff what to do or how to do a nest for it. I asked him what food to give. He told me: "hindi din yan tatagal fray, iwan mo na lang jan sa may gilid" (it's not going to survive Fray, just leave it in the corner) Knowing that he was right since the chick needs its mother for food and to hover over it, I thought at first it's just the right thing to do:leave it alone because it does not stand a chance to leave. "Don't waste your time and effort", my practical side told me, after all, it's going to die. However, something inside me was telling me: "Miel, if it's going to die, at least give it an opportunity to feel how it is to be taken care of, surely that would spell the difference between dying with no one to take care of you and dying while someone is willing to spend tym with and for you." Maybe we all experienced dying in all its forms in one way or another. Surely, we needed someone to accompany us during the process so that we would not feel alone.

 

Dying seems to be frightening and difficult, it requires total surrender, of not being in control anymore, something that some of us are afraid of.

 

When hope fails, a little charity towards another makes a great difference. Indeed, there are these three: faith, hope and charity. And the greatest of this is charity. It makes the experience of dying (in all its forms) a little less painful and frightening...

 

As expected, the bird did not survive. I just hope it felt the care and enjoyed the cerelac I bought and fed it yesterday, the few drops of water I gave and the warmth between my palms as I touched it and the time and effort I spent to check on its needs...