After typhoon Yolanda devastated the Philippines on Nov. 8, 2013, His Holiness Pope Francis made good his promise to visit ...

AND THE POPE VISITED US....

Today is January 19, 2015.

His Holiness Pope Francis came and stayed with us for four days, and now he is on his way back to Rome.

Last year he found out that our people were battered and devastated and killed by the cruel typhoon Yolanda ... and he decided to come all the way from the Vatican and be with our suffering people. There are things more important than being in the Vatican.

And he embraced us. And we embraced him. And he reminded us that Our Lord Jesus Christ, since He is fully human had suffered like us, fully experienced and intimately knows our wounds, our pain and our tears, knows our wounds and our pain. But that Jesus gave us His own Mother Mary to be with us, to comfort us, and to protect us. That God, the Father of all women and men, is always with us, loving us.

That we for our part should respect one another, and share and serve, and be honest, and merciful, and compassionate and forgiving and true .
And he led us into eternal moments of silence, when he could no longer speak, but could only remain in silence, overwhelmed by our human suffering. And by the warm, healing Presence of our ineffable God.

Some think there were six million, maybe even seven million people who came from their homes to attend the Pope ́s Mass in the Luneta. Actually there were tens of millions more, present in spirit, glued to their TVs and radios, straining to be there with Pope Francis. Indeed, our entire nation, the Filipino people, hungered for and basked in the sunshine of his presence, his honesty, and his smile.
And then GOD, and all we had believed in, instead of remaining just empty , doubtful words, became real to us -- a living, vibrant, beautiful part of us.

That is why, although we are unworthy, we wish Pope Francis to be an integral part of this book and of our lives. Even just the memory or the image of Pope Francis in the Philippines will renew us. For he is a living reminder that in the sunshine, and even the rain, of our life -- GOD WAS ALWAYS THERE : GOD IS ALWAYS THERE.

To us, and to every Filipino, it is an honor, a privilege, and a joy, to be Pope Francis ́ beloved children, to be God’s own children.

Thank you, Holy Father Pope Francis, for being with us, for getting wet with us, for crying with us, for being silent with us – for loving us.

--Mila and Juni, and the Filipino People