https://asianjournal.com/lifestyle/the-gifts-of-grace/
FR. RANDY Odchigue, Ph.D. described grace as getting the blessings you don’t deserve and not receiving the punishment due.That simple statement allowed me to harvest the grace in my life which profoundly became my defining moments.
Grace first appeared to me through my parents, Eleazar and Asuncion.
From Eleazar, I learned generosity of spirit — to love and to be a gardener of souls, one that sees the beauty in hearts and spirits. From Asuncion, I learned fierceness of ambition and the right of women to pursue their dreams. She taught me focused discipline and how to pursue your dreams with hard work.
From both of them, I got the best education — from St. Rita’s College, where I learned love and social justice is to be shared with a community, and University of the Philippines, where I learned critical thinking.
From that university, I learned what it is to be free, to freely express myself, but also to think without constraints and limits.
The second appearance of Grace to me are my sisters: Rose, Sion, Rachel and Nimfa. One of them is here, my favorite, Sion Ferrer. She and I have journeyed life together. She will tell you as she credits me and I will credit her now — we save each other from falling into the precipices of challenges. We save each other by pointing out what is good in a personal crisis, and character (good character is most important of all), and not to become desperate. She and I are partners in making sure we stay in the lighted path that our parents showed us.
The third appearance of grace to me is my husband, Enrique — a retired professor and chair of Asian American Studies at CalState University in Northridge. He is the love of my life, who showed me that spirituality is not just inside the Church, but it can be found in the stillness of nature: in the mountainous trails we climb, in the depths of colors that we see in sunrise and sunset and what it means to dream with the moon in the background and in service to the community.
He also saved my life twice — once, when I hemorrhaged 9 days after giving birth to my beloved son, Carlo. He nursed me back to health, he fed our newborn, took care of our first born Corina (who was barely four years old) and cooked for us, while still sustaining a full-time job and being part of the Anti Martial Law Movement, which brought back democracy to the Philippines. A second time, in Leyte when I had a triple breakdown of my system from asthma, influenza and allergies, he walked miles to reach a pharmacy so I can have my medication.
The fourth appearance of grace to me is my very good friend, Fritz Friedman, who is the Senior Vice President of Worldwide Publicity at Sony Studios and the highest ranking Filipino-American in Hollywood today.
He credits me for being his partner in community causes, but I credit him with teaching me invaluable things that changed my life qualitatively — that is to be bold, and to think big for the community.
Apl.de.Ap’s Hollywood Bowl’s concert on July 8 would not have been possible 12 years ago, but with Fritz’s guidance, we learned not to compromise with quality. Why not?, he says. We are God’s creatures. Why should we think small for our community, not deliver the best there is and even to ourselves? But more importantly, he taught me that you must keep your word, you must tell the truth, and you must act honorably. It is from Fritz’s example that I learned grace, even when detractors vehemently attacked me. Tonight, his partner, Jeff traveled a distance too, more than three hours, to be with me tonight.
The fifth appearance of grace to me is Cora Oriel, the publisher of Asian Journal and her visionary husband, Roger Oriel. Tonight, they are receiving the Community Service Award from Immaculate Heart of Mary Church’s community and pastors, Fr. Rodel Balagtas and Fr. Miloy Pacanza.
Both are businesspersons, successful enterpreneurs, and both taught me not to focus on my detractors but on the community, the country and the world. Cora taught me the value of consistent positive thinking and consistent right actions that resonate for generations to come. From her, I learned even more to pay attention to where grace comes from and to keep praying.
The sixth appearance of grace for me is Hydee Ursolino Pichai. From Hydee, I learned to trust more of my artistic instincts and to stay open-hearted to receive and accept God’s grace in any form. It is from Hydee that I learned to trust more that the Universe will always provide in my daily art of writing and creating. She brings enormous joy and highest standards of quality in my community and personal life of documenting what we do.
The seventh appearance of grace for me is Benel Se-Liban and her family, Cris and JP, who, as a unit travel the rest of the world, run after buses and trains and teach me the value of having fun and playing as a family together, praying together and eating together. With them, I have the heartiest meals and the most profound conversations about community leadership.
The eighth appearance of grace to me is Fr. Rodel, the pastor of IHMC. He not only welcomed me warmly, he opened my heart to what is true grace: The Grace of Mama Mary and the Grace of God’s love. In opening up my heart to these sources of divine love, my writing got easier to do, inspiration appeared everywhere and it seemed like doors to my dream got opened.
Who would think and even imagine that in one week, I could see live the actions of two presidents, Obama and Aquino? I never even imagined it, nor planned for it, but in practicing heroic love, loving even those who do not deserved it as my mind would say, I became self-contained, and I gained emotional and spiritual peace. But, that grace also came in the form of profound wisdom of Fr. Miloy, who in the ordinariness of things, gets to harvest what is truly profound in our relationships with God, nature and each other.
Finally, the last appearance of grace to me is my momma Rocio and her warm, gentle, kind unconditional love for me. This is why we call her momma because she is a gentle, kind mother to me. Yes, she is my girl friend, one of my best friends. But when she gives me the “look” or kind advice, it is about opening up my heart even more. Tonight, she has three generations of Nuyda, ever so fashionable, but radiating their inner beauties of grace personified: Carlyn, Faye and Eloise.
To Pete Avendano, to Venice Avendano, to Mike Zuniga, to Susan Alcantara, you are not just my church friends, you are all grace, personified. So are you, Bernardo Bernardo and Annie Nepomuceno.
So to all of you, I thank you for showing me GRACE, which I don’t deserve at times, but for which I am most grateful for! I am spiritually richer because of all your living examples. I am so happy tonight, I can say I have lived up to what my parents taught me – to give and receive grace! Maraming salamat po!