Many were glad, even the non-Catholics, that the Philippines was chosen by Pope Francis to visit. According to them, the papal visit would serve as a timely reminder to meditate and be closer to God.
But is it really possible to draw close to God? To many, that seems impossible. Some fear that he is too remote; others feel hopelessly unworthy.
Those who go abroad, even though they’re not religious, turn to God and hold on their faith and prayers, to succeed and be able to face the challenges in working overseas.
There are many questions and uncertainties that come to their minds especially for the first-timers. Questions like what awaits them overseas, what would be the culture in the country they are going to, what kind of employer will they have, will they stay for long? Or can they do it?
Of course all of these questions will be answered only when they reach their destination, but despite the worries and fears, our OFWs’ nature as a Pinoy would still prevail.
Whatever happens, they would resolve that they can do it and will endure everything for the sake of their families and the fulfillment of their dreams.
For our kababayan, there is always this belief that God exists and is continuously guiding us anywhere we are.
Religion is a form of worship. It is human nature that people seek to worship, unlike animals.
Even if they’ll say that an OFW is not active with his or her religion, we were able to speak to some of them, that they became closer to God when they went abroad.
When they were in the Philippines, they were taking their religion for granted.
There are some who patiently studied the Bible. They do research on what the Bible teaches. They learned that there are answers for every question such as: Why are we here? Is this life all there is? Why does God allow suffering? Why is there so much pain and misery? Is there an end to all of these?
In the end they chose to offer themselves to serve God who is known by His name Jehovah and His son Jesus Christ. In effect, God’s qualities and ways, as revealed in the Bible, are a vital field of study.
In the prologue of the book “Draw Close to Jehovah,” the Bible lovingly urges us: “Draw close to God, and He will draw close to you.”
It says that pondering the way Jehovah manifests each of his qualities, seeing how Jesus Christ perfectly reflected them, and understanding how we too may cultivate them will draw us closer to God.
The book also added that we will see that Jehovah is the rightful and ideal Sovereign of the universe. The book is downloadable via jw.org.
That is also one of the advantages of our kababayan who work abroad. They seek and build a close relationship with our Creator.
But we have an embassy official who said that he has no religion whenever he is assigned overseas. Because he gets invited by all kinds of religion. He is obligated to attend the programs because that serves as an opportunity for them to talk to our Filipino community there.
But he is also saddened that he is not a regular worshipper because most of the time he prioritizes his work and the welfare of our kababayan in fear of being criticized of not doing his job properly and of not taking care of our OFWs.
Sometimes fear of men served as a hindrance in drawing closer to God. But we have the gift of free will. We all have a choice and are accountable for our actions.
Susan Andes, also known as Susan K., can be heard over Radyo Inquirer dzIQ 990 AM, Monday to Friday, 10:30 a.m. to 12 noon.
Audio/video live streaming is at www.ustream.tv/channel/
dziq. Helpline: 0927-6499-870. E-mail: bantayocwfoundation@yahoo.com/susank
bantayocw@yahoo.com