A Bigger Prayer

I walked into the chapel and took a seat somewhere towards the left side of the chapel. It had a warm accommodating hall and a generally hospitable and homey atmosphere. The mass begun with the cherubic singing of the choir. This time, it was a set of children singing, no doubt just finished with their Sunday school held in the chapel just moments before the mass had begun. The community stared expectantly at the parish priest, with his cultured demeanor, as he walked up to the brightly lit altar. The priest quickly brushed his robe to straighten it out, and the chapel burst into a harmonious hymn as the community joined the choir in its singing.

It's been like that for over sixty years. Sixty years had it brought the people together to celebrate God under its roof. The community grew bigger and bigger, and as more people joined in and the singing grew louder; people found that there was much less space to go about the Provident Village Chapel.

My mother once remembered a time when only a single mass was held daily, except on Sundays when there were two, and that would be fine. It would’ve been preposterous to imagine that in all three of the masses held every Sunday, the church would be packed with people, some even sitting outside.

Several years and two parish priests ago, a new chapel had been planned to be constructed next to the old one. It was a long sought after dream of the community, but none had ever really acted upon it. After being passed down through generations of the church committee, only three years ago had they started the project.

The first project was a simple car raffle. I was curious about what the raffle was for, and discovered that it was an effort to collect donations to construct a new chapel. A new chapel? Unthinkable.

It did, however, do its job. People got curious about the construction, and many participated in the project. In the end, it earned P1.3 million. Looking back, I could never have imagined the progress they’d make in the future.

The Church has always been a medium for the community to get together, to exchange the latest gossip, mourn the soul of a deceased loved one; it was even a place where one could have a nice fun game of basketball. It was a place to get together and make merry in festivals, which would be held at the court. I’ve seen it so often filled with streamers and children playing. It was truly a place that could bring the community together.

Recently, however, there’s been some turmoil among the community. A good many people haven't been paying their dues to the homeowners association. People managed to isolate the problem to a certain area, and three separate homeowners associations were made. Even now as the new chapel is being built, gates are being built around the village to split it into three subdivisions.

The church committee’s next project was something of a charity run. The fee was P200 per head, not a very large fee. The turnout was very unexpected however. The run generated a good number of participants. People must have been very optimistic about the new chapel. In the midst of so much politicking and confusion, the community felt like a community again.

After garnering the support of many people, the chapel started receiving donations; anonymous donations. With the sizable amount donated by them, the chapel was finally able to begin construction.

It was a very new site to me, living so close to the church. With construction workers everywhere, the basketball court closed off, and heavy equipment often making an appearance, it surprised me. Even with the loud rumble of trucks passing to bring supplies to the site, I was excited to set foot in the new chapel. The large picture of the building just outside the construction site was very enticing. It looked simple and elegant, but had a much grander feel.

Soon enough, additional construction begun near the church. The three homeowners associations had begun construction of gates to separate the various villages. Not only did I find this to be an incredible inconvenience, I was almost angered by the stupidity of it. Though I never really knew anyone outside of the gate we’d be in, it felt as if they could only break the community apart. It was so silly.

I soon discovered that the old chapel would be converted into something of a multipurpose hall. It would become a place where the children could attend Sunday school, and adults could have religious retreats. It was practically the polar opposite of everything the division of the villages sought to do. While the gates sought to separate us, the church only brought us closer together.

Even more projects have begun and ended over the last few months, a golfing event and a car raffle to name a few, and each one has gained more support from the people. When I look back at how far we’ve come, I think about how God really brings people closer together.