SHARING
THE MYSTERY OF GOD'S PLAN
By Teddy Barleta
In 1994, me and my wife, Perla spent a
6-months holiday with our son Thor and his family in Jakarta,
Indonesia. It was the most exciting chapter in our lives.
Our ‘kababayans’ (fellow countrymen) there have been seriously
showing our brothers of other faiths that we Filipino Christians
are also religious and peace-loving people. Modesty aside, I have
been to many places around the world. Even so, I have never seen a
Filipino Community that conducts very inspiring social and
religious activities regularly the way Genesis Catholic Community
does it. Perhaps, this is one of the reasons why Filipino
expatriates in Jakarta have been blessed materially and
spiritually.
Inspired by this experience in Jakarta, when my wife and I went
back home to the Philippines, we started attending Sunday Mass
regularly. I myself started to read the daily Gospel Readings when
I wake up in the morning before I do anything else. Since then we
never missed our Sunday obligation to GOD.
In 1996, a long-time American associate and friend, while visiting
Jakarta, came over to Manila to renew acquaintances. After exchange
of communications he sent me a round trip plane ticket
Manila-Boston-Manila. He had a semi-conductor company EDI in
Westborough, Massachusetts, USA and their military products were
being sub-contracted in Manila. He offered me a consultancy job
based in Manila which I accepted.
Towards end of the year 1998, EDI was sold and merged with an
electronics company in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. The Vice President of
the buyer company came over to Manila. He asked me if I would like
to work with their company. I accepted the job offer. So, I was
appointed on the spot and have been liaison between WEDC (Phoenix)
and Amertron (Clark) up to the present time.
In year 2002, my wife and I were again invited by our son Thor for
another holiday in Indonesia – 1 week in Bali and another week in
Jakarta. She was born near 100 islands in Alaminos, Pangasinan in
northern Philippines. And there we were enjoying fishing in one of
the islands of Pulau Seribu (1,000 Islands). And would you believe
that we even had a dinner in a restaurant in Bali that was bombed a
month or two later?
The hardest blow in my life came on May 2, 2005 -- when my wife
passed away. That day, I had just arrived from my Friday trip to
Clark in Pampanga, north of Manila. So I asked my daughter Zaida to
drive for her Mommy to attend the debut party of a relative
somewhere in Cavite, south of Manila. They left at about 5PM, but
after a few minutes they came back. I asked my wife, ‘Why?’ She
told me she forgot to kiss me -- both of us unaware that that would
be the last. Her sudden demise left me very sad, dazed and confused
as to what to do with my life. But, in one consoling moment, it
crossed my mind that the sudden death of my wife was part of GOD’s
plan.
I calmed myself and continued attending Mass every Sunday morning. Thereafter, with three roses and two candles in hand, I would go to the Loyola Memorial Park in Sucat, Paranaque (south of Manila). I would take a walk around the compound, pretending that my wife is walking along with me. And for the past three years, I have never failed doing this Sunday ritual. With confidence in my heart, I praise and thank the Lord that Perla is now in a much better place with her Maker.