OUR CATECHIST IN HEAVEN,  PRAY FOR US! EARLY GLIMPSES It was in the seminary that I first heard about Ka Luring, the legendary catechist. Everybody in Manila’s church circles seemed to know her. And she seemed to know everybody as well. On top of that, she happened to be almost everywhere, too. I mean, you found her when there were gatherings of the archdiocese, when you visited a parish, when there were prayer vigils, rallies, conferences, name it. In short, where there was action, there was Ka Luring. She was simply ubiquitous. But she was not consistently present like the other staples and permanent character fixtures in church affairs. Normally religious ladies who gravitated around priests and frequented the invitations to important activities of the church belonged to the well-off sections of society. They sprayed their hair up to look dignified and serene. They arrived neat and unruffled in cars with their own drivers, and sometimes, with their yaya, too. These women glistened with flashy jewelry and emitted enchanting aromas. You will miss Ka Luring if you were looking for her among people like the above. Ka Luring always entered the seminary, cathedral or parish gates walking, for she always took every means of public transport. With her signature big shoulder bag clutched closely to her body, she came in with an umbrella and a towel to wipe her sweat, nevermind the dishevelled hair blown by the wind and dust of Edsa. Beneath that humble appearance though was a calm confidence to look priests in the eye, converse with any seminarian, discuss with lay leaders and mingle with just anybody. She was particularly careful to greet the simple people she found around her. And she always appeared with a ready smile! In our Philosophy days, Ka Luring would come regulary each week to fetch a group of seminarians that taught catechism in a small school in Taguig. She guided them on how to deal with their classes in the public school. She patiently bore with the character of every seminarian entrusted to her. I was never part of the group with Ka Luring but I always heard happy stories about the catechism adventures of the group she led. CLOSER ENCOUNTERS After I was ordained I began to meet Ka Luring up close, on a personal basis. Because I was assigned to Villa San Miguel, I saw her there often. She would greet and visit the great Edsa Revolution spiritual hero, Jaime Cardinal Sin, who in turn delighted to see her. When Ka Luring visited the Cardinal, the latter became joyful and at peace. They talked in private, but you could hear the Cardinal bursting in loud laughter in the presence of this unpretentious simple old lady before him. There were moments when the Cardinal asked me to call Ka Luring so he could talk to her, unburden some concern, and ask for her prayers. Yes, even the famous holy man of God in Asia believed and fully trusted in the secret power of the prayers of his lowly catechist. In retrospect, I consider the times these two spiritual giants spent together as like the moments of nourishing and inspiring conversations between Francis and Clare, Benedict and Scholastica, Francis de Sales and Jane Frances de Chantal – a friendship of saints. HER POOR The Poor Clares of the monastery in Katipunan started to deliver extra eggs to Villa San Miguel, trays upon trays of their excess poultry product. Remember how people would offer eggs to that monastery in exchange for the favor of having the nuns pray for their intentions? I asked the sister bringing the eggs why they were dispensing with their treasure. She replied that if they kept and ate all the eggs, they would all be hospitalized for high blood pressure! I did not know how to consume all the eggs either so I sent them to the seminary. But one day Ka Luring learned about the eggs and she begged for a ration, too. What would you do with all those eggs, I inquired of her. She replied that she would cook them into leche flan and later, feed the leche flan to her waiting pupils in a slum area. In those days, leche flan was for the rich, and the ordinary person could eat that treat only during fiestas or grand occasions. Ka Luring was not only busying herself with her pupils. She was also serving the poor elderly in the depressed areas near her house. What the relatives of these old people could not do, Ka Luring offered as free service – bathing, changing, grooming them with love. I began to like, and love, Ka Luring because of her sincere kindness, her enviable selflessness, and her genuine friendship with and concern for priests. She was a happy conversation partner, not at all serious and solemn, as you might expect from someone regarded as an authentic witness of Jesus Christ. Every conversation with her was light and relaxing. It left you feeling peaceful and blessed. She leaves you no impression of the prestigious awards she received as a recognition of her service to the poor (she loved to say the words “poorest of the poor”, like St. Mother Teresa). In time, when Ka Luring became more comfortable with me, she began bringing to me another concern, more than her demand for eggs. This woman, never tired from serving the parish, the school, the poor, tried her hand on helping poor college scholars! A poor, uneducated woman with a scholarship plan!  If she found a student who was diligent and struggling to succeed, and learned that the family was so deprived to sustain an education, Ka Luring took that student under her wings. She went around town looking for priests who shared her advocacy. She visited priests in the seminary and in the parishes to tell them her stories of the lives of these poor scholars and to entice them to lend a hand. At times, … Continue reading LAUREANA “KA LURING” FRANCO: A CATECHIST IN HEAVEN