Rain and sunshine

Heavy rain drenched Metro Manila with more than half of a month’s volume of water in just 24  hours starting Sunday. This deluge caused massive flooding in the capital with almost 50  percent of the city underwater, affecting  nearby provinces as well.

In some places the water was neck-deep, forcing  thousands of residents  to  evacuate to higher ground. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) Director Benito Ramos described the situation as “like a water world.” Two  million people have been displaced by almost two weeks of relentless rain.

This disaster is always accompanied by more inconvenience and sufferings. There is work stoppage in government offices and private sectors. Schools are suspended at all levels. Lives are lost due to various reasons such as drowning, electrocution or a landslide. Property damage is extensive. And the basic daily concern of people is how to find  food and water. I read in the newspapers about the the plight of  Minerva Mercader, a beauty salon  worker,  who had to  leave her home beside the river in suburban Quezon City to find shelter in a church . She was dripping wet from the rain as she stepped into the Santo Domingo Church with her three children. She said she got scared because the sky was dark and  strong rains were coming. “We have no food and I don’t know what to do,” she agonized.

The scenes in television were reminiscent once again of “Ondoy” but this time it was even more frightening. At least the September 2009 devastation could be blamed on the tropical storm “Ondoy.” This week’s weather disturbance does not even have a name. We are told that the heavy rains and floods were spawned by the southwest monsoon. Will the next monsoon rain bring the same havoc?

Will this be the new normal due to climate change? Did authorities  not say “we are better prepared now”? Time and again we struggle with the same problems when  the rainy season sets in. But it seems we are not winning our battle against the fury of nature. We  stand defeated. This time as well.

This Sunday’s First Reading (1 Kgs 19:4-8) recounts the plight of prophet Elijah. He just  scored a victory over the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel. But this earned him the fury of Queen Jezebel who was seeking his life in retaliation. We find the prophet exhausted from his trials both physically and spiritually. He is discouraged and wants to die. He is tired of fighting his battles.

At times we can find ourselves in a similar situation. We are tried beyond our strength. Our problems can be so overwhelming that they test our patience, our endurance and our faith. Like the prophet we can bitterly complain to God: “This is enough, O Lord.” We have no more strength  to move on. We simply surrender to our misery.  And as a people, we can also undergo the same heartache. We can suffer a corporate misery. We experience a kind of collective suffering that does violence to our collective consciousness. Desperation appears when   there seems to be no solution yet to the serious issues we face. All we can do is look up to heaven and sigh. Heaven help us!

But the story of Elijah encourages us to trust in a gracious God who is not indifferent to our plight. As God did  for the prophet, He will sustain us by his divine presence, represented by the bread and water Elijah receives. He was given strength when he had none and  was able to continue his journey across the scorching desert. The bread given to Elijah is  a foreshadowing of the  Eucharistic Bread that Jesus gives to us today. He is our “living bread” – his flesh given for the life of the world. His presence is a promise that he will not abandon us in our misery. Instead he will stay with us to give us life and hope.

With Jesus, we can always smile to await the shining sun tomorrow.