‘To love another person is to see the face of God’

To change a man, give him a gift of unmerited grace. He will not forget the gift. He will cherish it. He will celebrate it.

Grace is all about unexpected blessings. It comes in the most inopportune time, more so in miserable times. As it is experienced in the musical Les Misérables, which is playing at The Theater in Solaire until May 1, grace is an unforeseen gift received by those who allow God’s mercy in their lives.

Jean Valjean, a convict, was on parole after 19 years of being in prison for stealing a loaf of bread. In those days in France, punishments were harsh. Valjean’s post-incarceration life remained hard so he stole from the kindness of the Bishop of Digne after the latter cared for him with food and shelter for a night. He was caught yet the Bishop rescued him from an imminent return to prison in the hands of Javert, who personified the mercilessness of the law.

Caught red-handed with some pieces of silver, Valjean did not expect that his sin would not only be forgiven by the Bishop but would also be rewarded with a few more pieces of precious silver.

Only, the Bishop, in his supreme kindness, told Valjean:  “And remember this my brother/ See in this some higher plan/You must use this precious silver/ to become an honest man/ By the witness of the martyrs/ by the Passion and the Blood/ God has raised you out of darkness/ I have bought your soul for God!”

And Valjean, a recipient of forgiveness and grace, was freed from the hands of Javert. As he illustrated it, the best way to atone for his sins was to become a better man. He kept his promise to better his life. Perhaps, it was also his promise to God. After 10 years, he became a rich and respectable man. With his new stature came the responsibility of providing jobs for others and caring for an orphan girl named Cosette, after she was left to his care by her mother Fantine who died a miserable woman.

In the Philippine production of Les Misérables, it is worthy to heap praises for the entire cast whose proclivity to churn out top-notch performances is commendable. I have to single out the superb performances of Rachelle Ann Go (who plays Fantine) and Esang de Torres (who plays young Cosette).

Rachelle does not only hit the high notes of I Dreamed a Dream, she is also able to deliver her emotions clearly, essaying through her voice and emotions the horrors she has been through to support her child. For me, Rachelle was unnerving in this part: “I had a dream my life would be/ So different from this hell I’m living/ So different now, from what it seems/?Now life has killed the dream I dreamed.” It was an ode of destitution, of helplessness. And the Philippine pride in Rachelle showed it.

Esang, of The Voice Kids 2 fame, is a little dynamo. Her rendition of Castle on a Cloud is serenely innocent you hear the voice of God in her singing. The clarity of Esang’s voice reminds you of Lea Salonga when she was a child actor in Annie. And yes, Esang acts her part well, too. Her young Cosette is very professional in displaying discontent and submission to the whims of the Thenadier couple. The lilt in her voice makes you imagine what she sings: “There is a castle on a cloud/ I like to go there in my sleep/ Aren’t any floors for me to sweep/Not in my castle on a cloud.”

The little thespian in Esang understands hope and the fortitude to wait for a glorious day, if ever it will come, as she ditties: “There is a lady all in white/ Holds me and sings a lullaby/ She’s nice to see and she’s soft to touch/ She says, ‘Cosette, I love you very much’.”

***

 St. Irenaeus said: “The glory of God is man fully alive.” Victor Hugo, with or without intent, realized it in Les Misérables, his seeming long gospel on suffering and surrendering one’s life to God. And the creators of the musical intensified it. Valjean, after receiving the gift of grace, was always in the moment to do good (giving employment to people, taking care of Cosette), to battle evil (fighting the tenacity of the Thenadiers, evading Javert, rising for Marius after the failed barricade war), and to perpetuate the kindness of man. He even spared Javert, leaving neither rancor nor resentment despite Javert’s no mercy policy to run after him, to indict him. But Valjean knew that his life was the vision of God so he continued to do good.

To be fully alive is to have beatific, blissful vision. And a life well lived is a heavenly dwelling place. Jean Valjean’s character showed this. 

When he knew his mission on earth was accomplished — loving Cosette like his real daughter and being fully aware that she would be loved by Marius — he embraced death like it was a crown to be put on his head. Valjean sang: “God on high/ hear my prayer/ Take me now to thy care/ Where you are/ let me be/ Take me now/ Take me there/ Bring me home.”

Only a person who has truly loved and served to the best of his ability can sing these lines. Valjean knows how to love because he is presented not only a second chance to better his life but a third chance to make things work. Death is a culmination for him for a life well lived on earth, and a new beginning to celebrate in the arms of God.

In the brink of Valjean’s death, Fantine made an apparition that poignantly supplements further the beauty of death. She said, “Come with me/ where chains will never bind you/ All your grief/ at last, at last, behind you/ Lord in Heaven/ look down on him in mercy.”

And before the curtain drops, so to speak, a line was heard, from Valjean: “To love another person is to see the face of God.”

No explanation needed. And the profound homily of Les Misérables is done and spread.

(For your new beginnings, please e-mail me at bumbaki@yahoo.com. I’m also on Twitter @bum_tenorio and Instagram @bumtenorio. Have a blessed Sunday!)