My first article that came out at Light of Jesus' The PICC Feast Bulletin
Richard's Story
For 15 years, he didn't hear Mass...Now he serves in the Feast Security Ministry...
Richard Go is a dreamer and his dream is big. His dream is to build Dumaguete Feast chapter with his fiancee Marie. Why not, isn’t that what Bro. Bo Sanchez has been teaching us all along, to dream big dreams not just for ourselves but for our country and for God?
He envisions people worshipping God at Dumaguete Feast with a view of the sea. He also sees Feast Manila Bay Worship Leader Bro. Adrian Panganiban in the team, probably leading or mentoring them. He does not see himself leading worship or preaching. He sees himself at the back-end, logistics, security. Something he knows a lot about since he’s part of Security at the Feast Manila Bay at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) right now. This generous outpouring of love and service to God and the Light of Jesus Family stems from his love and thanksgiving to the Lord for what he calls his third life.
Richard was not this enthusiastic about serving God in a faith community. For 15 years he shunned God and did not lay foot in church. What brought about this great turnaround? Read on...
Richard was born on January 26, 1980, as an only child to a Chinese father and Filipina mother. Looking from the outside, his was a happy and normal childhood. On Sundays, the family heard Mass, ate out, watched a movie at Harrison’s and his parents sometimes bought him G.I. Joe toys. He went to a private Catholic school. Things seemed good except that his parents had a lot of fights, sometimes violent, usually about money, which bothered him. Until one day, the unthinkable happened. The family's business closed down and his parents left him to relatives on his father's side. He was only 13 years old.
He calls this his second life. He lived from one relative to another, they were passing him around. He says he was not taken in for free. He had to work for his food, lodging, and schooling. He felt so miserable. He felt unwanted. Starting then, he stored up ill feelings-- anger, hatred, resentment toward his parents, relatives, people -- and God. Every day, he was so tired, that in the evening, he simply dropped on his bed and dozed off.
Strange as it may seem, he felt an angel was with him all those years. "It was some voice in my mind, in times of my confusion," he recalls, "redirecting my plans, my steps."
When he was 19, he couldn’t take anymore of his sorry plight and so he decided to live on his own. He continued to fend for himself and send himself to school. He got into all sorts of odd jobs, worked in a fancy hotel, even through illegal means at one time. But he stressed he was never into drugs. He was into drag racing or partying with friends, surrounded by girls, into drag racing. There were times when he put his life at risk just for the hang of it. He has scars in his body to prove it. One time, he even saved a prominent family from a burning building. He was his own man, he thought to himself. He didn’t answer to anybody. He didn’t need anybody. But really, his self-worth was so low.
Then in 2003, his mom showed up from out of the blue. No drama, no questions asked, no explanation. He went with her and they started their new life together. He was happy somewhat but not completely. His father died that same year. Richard went to his wake out of respect. The thing that nagged him the most -- how his parents managed to go through life without him on their side -- never got answered.
Despite that, two years ago, a series of events led him to become the happy man he is now.
First, he suffered severe diarrhea for three days. He was brought to the hospital and doctors said he contracted the salmonella virus. In the course of those three days, he suffered dehydration and almost died. He also had hallucinations. "I saw an angel," he says. "The same one who must had been with me during the difficult ten years when I was apart from my parents. It was around that time when I started thinking about God."
Next, while recuperating, Richard saw two movies, Forrest Gump and The Passion of Christ. The first made him realize that it is better to follow God than to lead your empty life alone. The second film so moved him that he made a decision to go back to Jesus.
That was a wish that set the universe in action to bring him to what he now calls his third life. First, it so happened that his fiancée Marie regularly attended the Feast, the Sunday prayer gathering of the Light of Jesus Family, a faith community founded by. Bro. Bo Sanchez.
Richard regularly accompanied Marie to the Feast led by Bro. Bo at the Valle Verde Country Club in Pasig City. "But I just waited for her outside the building," Richard now laughs.
Then in October 2009, he found out Fr. Gerry Orbos was celebrating a healing mass at the Feast. He went in and joined Marie. This was the first time he heard Mass in 15 years. Nothing spectacular happened.
But little did he know that God was already working in him. He bought Fr. Gerry’s books and CDs which eventually opened his heart to God’s unconditional love. This time he decided to surrender his life to God. He attended the Feast regularly, taking in the graces of the Holy Mass and the lively worship, and delighting over Bro. Bo’s talks. He even joined a Caring Group and from then on, saw outpouring of blessings. He felt healing inside him, as he slowly let go of his past hurts. His relationship with his fiancée and his mom went from good to great.
By this time he was already working in an information technology company. Following his joining the Feast, he was promoted to a managerial position. It was a mean feat for him since only those with four-year IT degree were considered for such post. His is a two-year diploma. "I believe it was his reward for my service to God and the Light of Jesus," he beams.
"But my greater reward really is having found a family in LOJ who welcomed me no matter of who I was," he added. "My LOJ Caring Group helped me to be closer to God. I feel so much at home with my LOJ family who are the coolest people in the world. When you speak, they listen. If you are broken, they sympathize. When you prosper, they celebrate with you.”
Finally, he enjoins Feast attendees to not just give tithes but to give time as well by serving in the community. This year, Bro. Bo started a Feast at the PICC by the Manila Bay. Richard volunteered as member of the Feast Manila Bay Security Ministry.
"My service every Sunday is a way to start the week right," he says. "I need to do this to glorify God and that I may be blessed and inspired as I go through the humdrum of the work week."
Or you can say, his own little way of securing his place in Heaven.
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