"a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit"         (James 2:15-16 NKJV)

A Vision in the form of a dream and a physical appearance.

Sometimes it would take half of your life before you wake up to reality, and embrace the truth about the Living God. I believe I have already achieved my spiritual goal; thus, living the way that Jesus Christ had taught us—embrace the Word and live by it. 

My name is Joseph, and lately I found out what it means: “Lord increases or may add”.  I put it this way, that God will increase all his blessings to me, to use to all his children who have accepted Him, His Son, Jesus Christ as our Savior.  If probably my dad did not leave us for another woman, maybe my life or my families' lives would have been different. But if that event of my life never occurred, I never would have discovered my destiny and the opportunity to share these heartfelt events of my life.   Nevertheless, I also could say that if he did, I would not be writing this. Perhaps it was meant to happen this way to find my destiny. 

I was a devoted Catholic before I became a born again Christian. Although my wife and I stopped attending Catholic Church, I turned my time to listening and watching Dr. Price on TV and other Evangelists every Sunday morning. I purchased various tapes of his preaching and made a collection of them. Through the teachings of Dr. Price, I learned so much about the Bible that I did not know much of before.  Although my sister Jo, who has been a born again Christian for 20 some years, did not pressure me to be born again, although she has been persuading me to find a Christian church.  There was one church we knew at the time, but I did have any interest whatsoever.  For over 7 years I have watched Dr. Price and learned so much from him until one day in October 2006, when my sister was here to attend a wedding, had persuaded my wife and I to go to that one church we knew.  

That day was the day that I felt I was blessed and have opened my heart to accept Jesus Christ as my Savior. October 1, 2006, my sister’s persistence to go—although we have learned that the church was in the process of moving, and we were not even sure if the church was still open that day—proved to be fruitful. Still, there was something that had almost prevented us not to find that church.  We were in front of the building, more so, in front of the door and it was very quiet. It seemed like there were no people inside, so we thought that they really had moved. We were about to leave when my wife decided to push the door. As soon as she was pushed the door, the curtain came up, and there was this guy who had welcomed us to come in. He is Bishop Gaudencio Soriano, founder and leader of the church, called Faith Restoration Center and they were getting ready for the afternoon service.   

Joining the service that afternoon was uplifting and different. A different feeling as if something from my inside was pulled out and I felt so light and happy.  The members were very friendly and we have assured them that we will be returning.  That was the start when we opened our heart, heard the Word of God, learned about it,  and felt that the Holy Spirit has dwelled in us the 2^nd week we have been there.  

My wife and I have been reading the Bible and have learned so much about it.   Things and events that occurred in the Bible made me relay to some experiences that had happened in my life.  I remember I dreamt about an angel when I was 6 years old. This angel was walking me to a cave, and the cave’s entrance was covered with flowers and in the midst of them was a table full of food.  This dream happened the night of the day that I felt so heartbroken and so sad when I tried to join my mother and my 2 sisters who were playing, but my mother shoved me off and yelled at me.   So I just stayed in one corner while I watched them having fun.   I don’t know what I was thinking, but I know I was crying.      

          Regardless, there are some highlights in my life.  During my high school days, I was involved in the Student Catholic Action and I had been in various athletic competitions which got me to finish high school.

         My graduation from elementary and high school was not memorable ones where you remember your folks being there for you.  My dad was too busy working and womanizing, and my mother was too busy spying on my dad contemplating how to win him back. My sisters and brother, who had their own world and did not care for anything else, were too young to be concerned with anything (perhaps to give them benefit of the doubt).

          I tried my best to go to college with the help of my dad, even though asking him for help proved to be torture. I did not know what I wanted to do or what I wanted to become.  There were times when I was so depressed that I would spend my time strolling at Lawton Park which one day had given me an experience that I could not forget. 

           That day, I remember asking my father for money in order to buy some books. I came into his office, and even before you get the chance to ask for something, he told you things you didn’t want to hear.  That day, I just stayed at the Lawton Park, feeling extremely depressed and disappointed with my life. Suddenly, an old lady carrying a native bag (bayong) approached me and asked for the post office.  She had told me that she was going to mail the bag (bayong) to her grandson.  I pointed to the post office located across the street from where we were standing. Then the old woman started crossing the street towards the Post Office.  This part of the neighborhood was very busy street with at least 4 or 5 intersecting streets.  I approached the old lady and offered to help her cross. I took the "bayong" from the old lady and crossed the street until we reached the bottom of the post office stairs and then she told me, "dito na lang amang, kaya ko na ito,” which means, “I could handle this from here, child.” I replied, "sasamahan ko na kayo hanggang taas," meaning, “I will take you up to the top.” Another few steps and we stopped again and she told me, “salamat ulit amang hanggang dito na lang,” ( thank you son this is good enough), but I insisted. I felt that she was too old to carry the basket up the step because I noticed as we got closer to the top of the post office, the basket was got heavier and heavier I felt it but it did not bother me, so we just went straight up. My feeling was that I was very happy helping her and I just wanted to help her.

          When we were at the top by the post office floor where the pillars were, the old lady stopped and  said, "talagang hanggang dito na lang amang, kaya ko na ito," (You can stop right here, child, I really could handle this myself"), but again I insisted to help her, but she was so dominant to stop me there. Before we parted, the old woman told me to look for the church St. Anne, and buy a book about St. Anne so I will know about her and remember to pray to her every Tuesday and pray for a wife who will love me and be faithful to me.

          My uncle who was a great believer of miracles told me that the lady who I helped was “St. Anne, the mother of Mary, the grandmother of Jesus Christ.”  And the native bag with something in it was the baby Jesus.  So we looked for St. Anne’s Church and found it in Taguig, Rizal which was the first time I saw a statue of an old woman holding the Baby Jesus.   While I was looking at the statue of St. Anne, I could not be wrong that it looked like the old heavy lady that I helped that day. The priest that we talked to on our way out the church said that during the Japanese occupation,  a few dozens of male in the town were lined up to be shot by the Japanese firing squad when an” old woman with the boy”  showed up  and they were saved for an unexplainable reason.

         From then on, St. Anne became my patron saint.   It wasn’t hard for me to believe that miracles really happen because it happened to me and I believe it.  Now that I am a born again Christian there is this conflict within me believing the miracle that I consider miracle.   All the good things that I received came from her intercession with Jesus Christ because she is the grandmother and, for all we know, He can not say no her, is this “idolatry.” As God’s commandment not to worship anybody but him alone, as he is the only true God, is respect the same as worship? 

          There were 2 Pastors that I consulted about this matter and each one of them has given me two different interpretation of what had happened.   The male pastor told me that the woman could be a devil in disguise. On the other hand, the woman pastor asked me if anything bad happened to me after that, if she did anything wrong to me, which I replied, none at all. I felt like the answer is, "blessed are you that you saw your comforter,"  all I felt after that was comfort, happiness and peace.  

          There is only one God, The One who sent his Son Jesus Christ to redeem us from our sins, with the Holy Spirit who dwell upon us, who lives in us.   Amen.