Pondo ng Pinoy’s First “saint”
As inspired by the Homily of
+Gaudencio B. Cardinal Rosales
on the occasion of the 2nd Anniversary of
Pondo ng Pinoy, June 17, 2006
written by: Lisa Bueno
“We can do no great things,” said Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, “only little things with great love.”
The story of young Jay-jay is, in essence, the story of Pondo ng Pinoy, a story of little things, done with great love. Jay-jay, a child in the 5th grade, in all his youthful wisdom understood the theology of Pondo ng Pinoy – of how small things, given with great love and concern for others, can change the world for the better. Each day, he would gather all the 25-centavo coins he could find, to drop into a small, empty mineral water bottle that stood on his mother’s desk at her office. Remembering his teacher’s admonition that the bottles should be filled with small amounts every day instead of in a rush at the last day of submission, he would fill it slowly, day by day, with whatever amounts he could offer as a small sacrifice for the sake of others. He even went as far to refuse the payment of P5.00 from a friend of his mother for a little service he rendered, “Beinte singko na lang po, para sa Pondo ng Pinoy” was his rejoinder to the offer.
Heaven, it seemed, could wait no longer to have this dear child in the company of the angels. A disease similar to leukemia spread quickly through his body. Yet even when confined to his sickbed at the height of his illness, Jay-jay’s thoughts were never far from his little bottle of coins. Murmuring to his mother, he would ask, not for toys or books or food but for his little bottle: “Mommy, akin na, pupunuin ko ‘yun para sa amin ni Jesus.” His mother learned to see, through her son’s eyes, the slowly-filling bottle not as a discarded piece of refuse, but as a vessel of love and a symbol of compassion.
Today, Jay-jay sits at the feet of Christ, and is embraced by the arms of the Savior he loved with all his innocent and trusting soul. His memory lives on, though, not only in his beloved mother’s heart, but in the hearts of all those who see in Pondo ng Pinoy the chance “to do small things with great love”, and to change the world one small loving step at a time. Jay-jay’s love story – for it is indeed a story of love – inspires everyone to look upon the humble containers bearing the Pondo ng Pinoy logo as the Hand of God extended in abiding love and unfailing mercy. His story caused Cardinal Rosales, the father of Pondo ng Pinoy to declare joyfully, “We have our first “saint!” as he asked us to commit to our hearts the gentle words of innocent faith”: Pupunuin ko ‘yun, para sa amin ni Jesus.
As inspired by the Homily of
+Gaudencio B. Cardinal Rosales
on the occasion of the 2nd Anniversary of
Pondo ng Pinoy, June 17, 2006
written by: Lisa Bueno
“We can do no great things,” said Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, “only little things with great love.”
The story of young Jay-jay is, in essence, the story of Pondo ng Pinoy, a story of little things, done with great love. Jay-jay, a child in the 5th grade, in all his youthful wisdom understood the theology of Pondo ng Pinoy – of how small things, given with great love and concern for others, can change the world for the better. Each day, he would gather all the 25-centavo coins he could find, to drop into a small, empty mineral water bottle that stood on his mother’s desk at her office. Remembering his teacher’s admonition that the bottles should be filled with small amounts every day instead of in a rush at the last day of submission, he would fill it slowly, day by day, with whatever amounts he could offer as a small sacrifice for the sake of others. He even went as far to refuse the payment of P5.00 from a friend of his mother for a little service he rendered, “Beinte singko na lang po, para sa Pondo ng Pinoy” was his rejoinder to the offer.
Heaven, it seemed, could wait no longer to have this dear child in the company of the angels. A disease similar to leukemia spread quickly through his body. Yet even when confined to his sickbed at the height of his illness, Jay-jay’s thoughts were never far from his little bottle of coins. Murmuring to his mother, he would ask, not for toys or books or food but for his little bottle: “Mommy, akin na, pupunuin ko ‘yun para sa amin ni Jesus.” His mother learned to see, through her son’s eyes, the slowly-filling bottle not as a discarded piece of refuse, but as a vessel of love and a symbol of compassion.
Today, Jay-jay sits at the feet of Christ, and is embraced by the arms of the Savior he loved with all his innocent and trusting soul. His memory lives on, though, not only in his beloved mother’s heart, but in the hearts of all those who see in Pondo ng Pinoy the chance “to do small things with great love”, and to change the world one small loving step at a time. Jay-jay’s love story – for it is indeed a story of love – inspires everyone to look upon the humble containers bearing the Pondo ng Pinoy logo as the Hand of God extended in abiding love and unfailing mercy. His story caused Cardinal Rosales, the father of Pondo ng Pinoy to declare joyfully, “We have our first “saint!” as he asked us to commit to our hearts the gentle words of innocent faith”: Pupunuin ko ‘yun, para sa amin ni Jesus.
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