Who Would’ve Thought?!

This was some­thing I gave as a homily years ago when I was still a Jesuit and my par­ents cel­e­brated their 25^th Wed­ding Anniver­sary. In a world where talk is cheap and com­mit­ments more and more tem­po­rary, some peo­ple do stay together despite every­thing. This is about my mom and my dad. And even if their anniver­sary is still in June, I would like to share this at this early part of the year, because it is a good reminder for us to be there for the long haul.

We had the mass in my favorite chapel in Sacred Heart Novi­tiate, the Immac­u­late Con­cep­tion Chapel. It has one of the most beau­ti­ful stat­ues of Mary ever. I hope you could go to Sacred Heart Novi­tiate, in Novaliches, Que­zon City, Philip­pines, and pray in that cute lit­tle chapel and behold the beau­ti­ful Mary pray­ing with us and pray­ing for us as we start our jour­neys this year. May she be there for the long haul. And may we con­tinue to be pleas­antly sur­prised at the many things hap­pen­ing to us.

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Hav­ing this mass here at this chapel started with a con­ver­sa­tion. A year ago, when I was about to take my vows, and my fam­ily was here, I talked with mama. She told me that she thanked God that morn­ing because, “Who would’ve thought?” That this girl from this obscure town of Mam­bayaan, Balin­gasag, Mis­amis Ori­en­tal would be in Sacred Heart Novi­tiate 50 years later—praying here and walk­ing its hal­lowed hallways?

That con­ver­sa­tion even­tu­ally flow­ered into a germ of an idea.

And even­tu­ally with things falling into place, the fam­ily decided to push it just a lit­tle bit fur­ther, “Who would’ve thought?!” that this cou­ple who wed­ded in this long-lost Jesuit church in Balin­gasag, Mis­amis Ori­en­tal would now be renew­ing their vows 25 years later in a Jesuit chapel in a Jesuit Novi­tiate. In the chapel I used to visit with­out fail, every morn­ing for two years here in the Novi­tiate. Who would’ve thought?! Who would’ve imagined?!

My parent’s lives are full of those– who wouldve thoughts’. They were both orphaned at young ages. My mom and her sis­ters had to be adopted by two aunts. Dad had to work as a bell­hop at a hotel/inn owned by an uncle and I remem­bered him telling me once that he had to knock on guest’s doors so he could iron their clothes and earn extra income. WHO WOULD’VE THOUGHT?!

After work­ing his way through col­lege, daddy worked as a lowly clerk in Min­danao Motors Cor­po­ra­tion, what the old folks in Cagayan de Oro used to call Ford (because they were sell­ing this brand). He went up the ranks and even­tu­ally became one of the man­agers of the company.

On the other side of the fence, fresh out of col­lege and look­ing for work, my mom had to dis­cern among three com­pa­nies, and she wasn’t sure which to choose. Those were sim­pler times, when the com­pany you started work­ing in, became the com­pany you worked for for the rest of your life! So she had to dis­cern. And who would’ve thought, the Jesuit who helped her dis­cern, Fr. Andres Boli­nas, is buried here! And the com­pa­nies she dis­cerned about: a bank, Coca Cola, and, who would’ve thought, Min­danao Motors Corporation.

And so it came to pass. Mama, after care­ful dis­cern­ment, chose Min­danao Motors Cor­po­ra­tion or Ford. And sealed her fate. She is still work­ing there now. And so it came to pass. Boy meets girl. And girl meets boy.

But Who Would’ve Thought?! It’s a great ques­tion to ask. It speaks of sur­prises. Of expec­ta­tions being exceeded. And of hopes bet­tered. It is about real­ity exceed­ing imag­i­na­tion. WHO WOULD’VE THOUGHT. We all have our own Who would’ve thought expe­ri­ences. Expe­ri­ences of sur­prise, and expec­ta­tions exceeded, hopes bet­tered, real­ity exceed­ing our imagination.

And these things still hap­pen. Today in this world of cyn­i­cism and bad news. We can give many cyn­i­cal expla­na­tions as well: Coin­ci­dence. Sheer luck. Fate. It is writ­ten in the palm of your hands. Purely human effort.

And yet we also believe. In a God who dreams great dreams. Who hopes great hopes. And expects great expec­ta­tions. Greater things than what we could ever imag­ine, or dream or hope about. That’s why we are sur­prised. That’s why our dreams and hopes are sur­passed, and our expec­ta­tions exceeded. Because, I guess, He hopes for us. He dreams for us.

This is what the Gospel was all about. A Jesus who dreams and hopes for His dis­ci­ples and asks the Father to ful­fill his dreams and hopes for his disciples.

A God who dreams and hopes.

And we believe in this God. Who, when He dreams, dreams only the best. Who, when He hopes, hopes only the finest. We believe in this God. Who takes our best efforts, blesses them, gives them back to us in ways we never expect. We are so hum­bled by this– that our best efforts could do so much and reach so far when placed in the hands of God. We believe in this God. Who sur­prises us, and is, in many ways, the God who fills the gaps– of our efforts, of our labors, of our pains. We believe in this God. Who makes us exclaim, Who would’ve thought?! Yes.

Who would’ve thought, but God him­self. Only Him.
We believe or we wouldn’t be here.

For we can only look back, in hind­sight and thanks­giv­ing, and humil­ity. For twenty-five years of sur­prises. For twenty five years of exceed­ing hopes. For twenty five years of real­ized dreams