A trip to Kamay ni Hesus

I wanted to do this before my first chemotherapy session on Monday.

Luckily, through the kindness of one of our friends, I was able to do it.  She lent us her car so that it would be a convenient trip.  And indeed, it was.  My friends tell me not to commute because of all the inconveniences.  I couldn't imagine how it would have been harder for me had I chosen to take that trip.

Anyway.

We got there early enough to choose our seats.

It's a good thing that they have a system.  All kinds of sickness are color-coded.  Upon registration, you're given this tag to pin on your chest.  The color speaks for itself.  The red shade varies according to sickness.  Red is for cancer and we get to sit in the front row.  Also, during the healing, the people on wheelchairs go first followed by the people with cancer, then the children, and so on.

Funny how I find it so ironic these days.  You get to be a priority because of your sickness.  Our sit is on the front row of the left side of the church (if you're facing the altar).  The rest of the pews are reserved for people like me who have ailments.  One sick person is allowed with one companion, so I had my dad sat beside me.  If you don't belong to any of those categories, then you get to sit on the monobloc chairs at the sides and some are outside the church.  That's where my aunt and sisters sat themselves.  The ushers and usherettes are so dedicated with what they do that they often check for people who have no idea of the system.

One thing I noticed is that many of us who are sitting on the pews (read: the sick) are well, sick.  And one thing I realized and want to share with you is:  Many of us always say that we are too busy to hear mass on Sundays.  But during this healing mass, I realized:  Your choice:  Too busy to hear mass?  Don't wait until you're sick or too sick to hear mass.

We wanted to get to the top of the Kamay ni Hesus shrine.  But there are new rules and we all did not meet it.  People who are wearing sleeveless, shorts and skirts are not allowed to go.  My dad was wearing shorts, me and my aunt are wearing sleeveless blouses and my sister is wearing a maong skirt.  We were a little disappointed but we say, we'll be back to that later... and hopefully for a thanksgiving kind of trip.