Amid the rubble, Our Lady stands!

Happy birthday to Ohn, my second daughter. She is actually my third but the second passed on very early. When Ohn was born I thought her eyes were too far apart. "Kalagyo bayag mata ning bataa," I thought in Binisaya. But growing up she insisted she looked like me. I suddenly discovered how pretty she really was. Cheers, Ohn. Love you.

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If there is one thing I have learned in my life, and have come to believe without any reservation, it is that the Virgin Mary is always with us. Sometimes she prefers to remain just out of sight but sends us small unmistakable reminders that she is just a whispered prayer away. At other times, she jolts us with signs too real to simply ignore.

But in all of such times, one consistent message always rings true and clear: "Never lose hope." Mother Mary was chosen to symbolize hope. She is an integral part of the message of salvation that Jesus brings. Hope was born the moment the archangel Gabriel announced that Jesus would be born through her.

On February 6 in southeastern Turkey, as well as in northwestern Syria, a devastating magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck, killing thousands and bringing down buildings. This was followed by another quake measuring 7.5 that similarly flattened central Turkey. Turkey is a Muslim country but with a fairly large Christian population.

One of the prominent structural casualties of the earthquake was the Annunciation Cathedral in the city of Alexandretta in the province of Hatay. It was the main church of the apostolic vicariate of Anatolia. Built 1858-1871 by the Carmelites, the cathedral is now almost no more, its roof completely collapsed, its walls almost all toppled.

What remained standing amid the rubble was a statue of the Virgin Mary. Unharmed. Intact. Garbed in pink and blue and carrying the child Jesus in white, it was the first thing the dazed and wounded survivors saw through the ruins. For whatever it will mean to the Turkish people, to me it will forever reaffirm the message: "Never lose hope."

I have written about this more than a couple of times but I will bring it up yet once more because of its similar enduring message. When super typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) destroyed Tacloban in 2013, among the first things the Taiwanese Buddhist relief foundation Tzu Chi did was to rebuild the downed churches.

Asked why the churches, when Tzu Chi was Buddhist, the foundation's leader, Master Cheng Yen, said such a time did not call for religious distinctions. When people lose everything, the only thing they need is hope. And the only thing that gives hope is faith. Hence the rush to rebuild the churches. My own faith in humanity was reinforced that day.

Among the more than 30 countries that rushed aid to the Philippines in that time of great need was Turkey. The other day, a team of more than 80 Filipino doctors, nurses, soldiers, and search and rescue personnel rushed to Turkey. It will be sub-zero temperatures there. But where hope is alive, humanity will be there.