Hope givers

During the infamous Bataan Death March in World War II, at least 72,000 Filipino and American soldiers were forced to walk 105 kilometers from Bataan, the last stand before their surrender, to Camp O’Donnell in Tarlac. At least 5,000 Filipino and 500 American soldiers died during the Death March. (Source: Wikipedia).

This story is inspired by an actual event.

Fr. Gerard, a Filipino chaplain who stayed at the rear of the march, counted 1,432 soldiers killed on the spot in a single day after they fell, unable to walk further. He whispered to the soldiers beside him, “Never think how far the destination is. Just think of placing one foot in front of the other. Spread the word around.”

The word spread fast. It worked. There were fewer people who fell and were killed. Fr. Gerard saved hundreds of lives by simply giving them hope. Hope took over despair. It gave the soldiers energy. Fr. Gerard was the hope-giver.

This story is also inspired by an actual incident.

In the US during a championship college football game, a player knelt to pray in the open field. He was arrested on the spot and thrown out of the game. In certain states, it was illegal to pray in public. It was a bizarre law. Christians praying in public was ridiculously interpreted as violating Muslims’ rights.

The purpose of the law was to protect the rights of Muslims and other religious groups, who did not even feel their rights were being violated. It was meant to be a law on freedom of religion, when actually it was the opposite. It was a suppression of the freedom to practice one’s religion.

A second player followed. He knelt in prayer and was bodily thrown out. A third and a fourth did the same, and they were also thrown out. The entire team and their coach followed. There was a dilemma. The place was jampacked and the game would have to be postponed or cancelled, as an entire team was missing. The audience started booing. They were heard three blocks from the football stadium.

Finally, the law enforcers gave in. They were embarrassed. The entire team that was booted out was allowed to come back. They were fighting for their right to pray in public. The incident never happened again, at least not in that stadium. They were the hope-givers fighting together against an immoral law banning prayer in public. Hope was contagious and they won.

It was the same case for the Catholic Church. A US law required hospitals to perform abortions on demand. Almost half of the hospitals in the entire US were Catholic. When the Catholic hospitals threatened to close shop if they were forced to perform abortions, the government backed down. Suddenly, they were silent. The hope-givers won again — hope fighting an immoral law forcing people to go against their consciences.

This story of the goon and the girl, inspired by an actual incident, was featured in this column before.

A noisy goon entered a church full of people to disrupt the Holy Mass in progress. A brave five-year-old girl approached him, took his hand, which melted his hardened heart. He did not know what to do. The incident ended with the congregation praying and singing for him. The goon and the girl became close friends and would go to church together regularly.

There is hope even for hardened hearts. The child was the hope-giver.