Missionary: Healer of Soul and Body
	By Fr. Jimmy Cabuntucan, MSP

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I asked a Sister, who served in the parish, to assist me but she was too scared of the blood. I had to do everything by myself, then. I helped the man recline on a chair, washed the dangling chunk of human flesh with a disinfectant, and pressed it back to its place. And I proceeded to make four stitches in a four-cornered pattern. I imagined that what I was doing was just like patching up a piece of cloth to a torn garment.

All this was done without anesthesia. I felt his pain in my gut each time I pierced his fresh wound with my needle. Surprisingly, I did not notice him making any sign of complaint. Perhaps, he thought he was completely in good hands as I sewed him up. On the contrary, I believed the ill-trained local health worker was more prepared to do it. After several agonizing minutes, the experiment was done. It was good enough to make the flesh stick to his face, and to stop the flow of blood until we got to the doctor. I was so worried the whole night. I kept on praying that the man would survive until the next day.

In the morning, I took him to the hospital. The doctor was not very pleased with my surgical accomplishment. He told me, “Don’t you know, Father, that what you have done is illegal?” “Yes, I know, because I am not authorized to do it,” I answered him. “But what you did, Father, was also right for you have saved his life,” he lauded me. After a month, I saw the man walking around again; his face hardly showed any signs of the injury.

Having saved a man’s life, not just his face, is one of my happiest memories on mission.

Besides being a ‘doctor of souls,’ an expert in prayer, Bible and Sacraments, a missionary should also know how to take care of his people, if necessary, when they get sick or injured. More importantly, he should not miss to consult the Divine Healer and Savior of soul and body as he proclaims God’s Kingdom of total salvation for all.

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