Author’s Note. This is inspired by a touching true story related to me by Sister Raquel Reodica, RVM, cancer-healer for Jesus. It is a family reconciliation appropriate for Christmas.
When Rene drew a knife on his mother for refusing to give shabu money, she decided that the whole family would visit Sr. Raquel Reodica, RVM, for healing, right on Christmas day.
eastwind journals
‘True Tales’ Series – Volume 45
December 18, 2023 – Archives tr447
By Bernie V. Lopez, eastwindreplyctr@gmail.com
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SISTER – All honor students, I suppose?
MOTHER – Yes, sister. The girls are in La Salle, top honors. Rene was at the top of his class at Ateneo, until he joined a shabu gang. (Rene bows his head and turns away in shame, mumbling in anger.) Rene, go first to the chapel.
RENE – (18 years old.) Why am I not part of the family?
MONICA – (Youngest, 14 years old) Kuya, just give us a chance to explain.
RENE – Okay, gang up on me again. Sister, I’m going home.
SISTER – Wait. I am on your side. Rene, let’s talk one-on-one later. Let me first get your mom’s side. Talk to Jesus. Bring out all your ill feelings to Him. (Reluctantly, Rene goes to the chapel.)
MOTHER – Rene has been a shabu addict for three years, advanced stage. We can no longer cope up with him. We were thinking you could heal him.
SISTER – I am not the one who heals. Jesus heals.
MONICA – He does not sleep and eat for two days, when high on shabu.
JENNIFER – (Eldest, 21 years old.) When the drug wears off, he drinks a liter of water, then sleeps for two days. He sold all my jewelries and our TV set to buy shabu.
SISTER – Wow. Is that the effect of the drug? (Placing a hand on the mother’s shoulder) Your anger will not do any good. We have to know why he’s taking drugs. (Actually, Sr. Raquel already knew.)
JENNIFER – Bad company, sister.
SISTER – There is a deeper reason.
MOTHER – He threatened me with a knife when I refused to give him shabu money. These two girls ganged up on him. Jennifer wanted to call the police. I just stopped her.
MONICA – We said, if he refused to see you, Sister, he goes to rehab. He agreed instantly. He is super-scared of rehab. (Sister leaves, goes to Rene.)
SISTER – It’s our turn to talk, Rene. Speak up.
RENE – I started taking shabu when my family began ignoring me. They talk among themselves. They don’t talk to me. I don’t feel any love from them. (Rene is now in tears). It’s like I don’t have a family.
SISTER – (She puts a hand on his shoulder.) Okay, let’s pray. Jesus knows your problem. He will fix it for you. Follow after me – “Dear Jesus (Rene follows). Please help me get rid of my addiction. Please help my family to give me love. (Rene bursts into tears, then calms down. Sister goes back alone to the three women.)
SISTER – Don’t be angry, but you three are the ones who need healing.
MOTHER – (Shocked.) What do you mean, sister?
SISTER – Is it hard to understand that you are the reason he went into drugs? He felt that you did not love him. He took shabu to deaden his pain, the wounds of being un-loved. He feels rejected by the whole family, alone in the world.
MOTHER – But, sister ….
SISTER – Then, the more you got angry, the more he took shabu. It became a vicious cycle. You drove him to addiction. (All three are silent. They start to sob.)
MOTHER – It’s all my fault, sister. I put all the attention on the girls.
JENNIFER – We never thought of that. We have been so blind all these years. It’s also our fault, mommy.
MONICA – (Running towards Rene, shouting) Kuya, kuya, forgive us. Forgive us.
Rene embraces Monica. Jennifer and the mother join them. They shed a Niagara Falls of tears. It is an instant catharsis of an entire family. It was the greatest Christmas of their lives.
SISTER – It is so simple. Love is the cure for drug addiction.
RENE – Thank you sister for returning to us our lives. I thought I was really going to die. Shabu is slow suicide. I promise to go to rehab. I will remove this poison in my veins. Please pray for me, sister, because rehab is hard. I have tried before twice and after a week, I went back to shabu when my gangmates visitied me.
SISTER – You can do it, Rene, if you ask Jesus for help. When you are loved, your deepest anger will vanish. Let us all pray.
After praying, they go home in silence, absorbing the lightning bolt sister gave them. After a week, Rene calls sister.
RENE – A miracle, sister. Thank you. I’m healed. I stayed in church until 5 am, just sitting there. I felt a warm mist envelope me. I don’t need rehab. The Lord has healed me. My addiction has suddenly vanished. I don’t care for shabu anymore. I don’t know why, sister. My healing is instant.
True enough, Rene never went to rehab, instantly healed. He was back on top of his class.
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More Inspirational Articles – eastwindjournals.com.
FOR THOSE WHO NEED HEALING, spiritual or physical (depression, anxiety, loneliness, terminal cancer, covid, diabetes, etc.) – say an online healing prayer with one or both healers below. Terminal patients have been healed in cyberspace. All you need is to have faith and to ask the Lord –
1) Father Fernando Suarez – www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UP3LHBgtIc.
2) Sr. Raquel Reodica, RVM – www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAZcwNimBSg
Download free e-book ‘Healing Stories of Sr. Raquel’ at eastwindjournals.com/2021/08/13/healing-stories-of-sr-raquel-e-book-free-download/).
Author’s book. At age 26, the author (eastwind) drifted through Europe, hitchhiking 25,000 kilometers for three straight years. He wrote a book on his adventures, Wings and Wanderlust. He learned deep insights that radically changed his view of life, which he wants to share with readers looking for themselves or wanting to catch the wind. More about the book (get a copy) = https://eastwindjournals.com/2023/02/25/more-about-the-book-wings-and-wanderlust/
Author’s Credentials. Blogger – ex-Columnist (Inquirer) – Healing Ministry – ex-Professor (Ateneo University) – Documentary Producer-Director (freelance, ex-ABS-CBN, ex-TVS Tokyo) – ex-Broadcaster (Radio Veritas) – Facebook “Bernie V. Lopez Eastwind” / Pages “Eastwind Journeys and Journals” and “Mary Queen of Peace”.
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