Last April, right before I was about to go up on stage to lead the closing praisefest for the 20th International Leaders Conference (ILC) of CFC-Youth For Christ, I asked a fellow missionary of mine to hold onto my iphone because I did not like the idea of having a few things with me going up.
Right after the praisefest when all the missionaries came up the stage to announce the venue for next year’s ILC. The brother holding onto my phone tapped me and asked me if I had the phone with me. I said no because I was on-stage and haven’t talked to him since that time. He told me that he may have lost my iPhone. I just told him that it was okay.
Two things came to me at that moment.
One, I was at peace with the detachment with the phone. If anybody knows me, is that I like my gadgets. And I do take care of them and don’t want anything to happen to them. Losing them would have been a nightmare. But at that moment, in fact even up to now, I am not fearful of losing my phone. I have found something greater which I am afraid to lose, God.
Two, Saint Anthony de Padua. Saint Anthony though known to many as the saint for finding lost things, has been a saint that I haven’t been acquainted to. I only know him from the conversations I have with friends who bring him up as a saint they pray to when they lose their house keys or car keys. At that moment when my friend told me that he lost my phone, at the back of my mind I shot a prayer to Saint Anthony and asked him if he can work his thing and get me my iphone back. But I never really gave it another thought simply because I was already surrendered to the fact that my phone was lost.
When everyone already started to make their way home, I was making my way back to the quarters where all of the missionaries stayed, a sister-missionary pulled me aside and asked if I lost an iPhone. It was weird because I did not tell anybody that I lost my phone. And I told her, yes, and she asked if my phone was white and had a huge crack (another story), and I told her yes. She suddenly smiled and said her Coordinator found an iPhone, in fact my iPhone, and was trying hard to return it to the owner.
In a few hours my phone was returned to me. Looking back on that event, I would have totally understood if my iPhone was “God’s answer” to someone’s prayer. They might have needed the money if they sold it. It was in a venue filled with 9000+ people and with the event closing, more people came in and that would have been the end of that. Again counting the number of people present there, it would also have been easy to step on my phone and break it some more rendering it useless. But counting the number of possibilities that made the return of my phone impossible, it still came back onto my hands. A miracle yes. A little nudge from above that someone is also looking out for me.
Since then I’ve had a special affinity for Saint Anthony, and he has never failed ever since I started to ask for his help. The day I lost my phone was the same day I gained an awesome friend.
I have also started to pray for bigger things that are lost in my life. Knowing Saint Anthony, he’s looking out for me so that I may enjoy the same thing he is enjoying now, communion with God.
Saint Anthony de Padua, pray for those who are lost that they may find the One that they have always looked for. Saint Anthony de Padua, pray for us.