June Keithley–authentic heroine to the very end

KEITHLEY. Unexpected juxtaposition.

Many People know June Keithley as an Edsa heroine and TV program host, but our own fond recollections of our recently departed friend and colleague have more theatrical and religious contexts.

At first blush, theater and religion would seem to be a most unexpected juxtaposition—but, that’s the amazingly unpredictable June Keithley for you!

Fact is, our “Keithley connection” goes back even earlier, because her husband, Angelo Castro Jr., was one of our students at UP. Even then, it was obvious that he was meant to have a stellar career in broadcasting, and not just because his father was a pioneer in radio.

So, whenever we visited June and Angelo, the way that he related to us was decidedly deferentia—while June’s own attitude was—even more decidedly not so!

Since we were theater buddies and for a time hosted different talk shows,  we had a far more boisterous and chummy relationship with June.

Our discussions, specially in the field of film, further increased in feistiness when we vice-chaired the Cinema Evaluation Board, of which June was one of the more opinionated and articulate members.

But, our relationship truly deepened when, one fine day, out of the blue, June called us up, not to discuss stage, TV or movie matters, but to request to write—a religious article!

The call came really far out from left field, because we didn’t know that June had become much more spiritual than before after a pilgrimage to Medjugorje, and was part of a small group of devotees that invited well-known visionaries like Vassula Ryden and Christina Gallagher to go on speaking tours and share their acute and intense spiritual experiences with local devotees.

Thus, the religious article we wrote upon June’s request became the first of many, since in her view we had the knack for “humanizing” the visionary experience for lay readers.

We interviewed Vassula several times, and still get a “warm chill” when we recall that, as we spoke to her, her facial features would slowly “morph” into that of a revered male religious figure!

But, our most striking spiritual experience of all was when we joined June and the Irish mystic, Christina Gallagher, on a “speaking and sharing” tour that took us to the Visayas.

During that unforgettable trip, we marveled as we witnessed Christina and her assigned father confessor pray together—some 15 hours a day!

Their very lives had become one long, unceasing prayer, and when we dared to ask why, they quietly answered that the world had become so sinful that spiritual people had to work overtime to make amends!

Christina also gifted us with a deeply moving moment when, at Mass one day, she turned to us after The Lord’s Prayer, and gave us the ritual kiss of peace—but, as she did so, her features changed, and we felt like we were being blessed by the Blessed Virgin Mary herself!

We will always be grateful to June for making those special moments and the entire “spiritual” chapter in our life possible. We also wrote scripts for her productions, and supported her other efforts to use the media to increase and intensify viewers’ faith, like her and Leo Rialp’s exceptional documentary on Fil-Am visionary, Emma de Guzman.

Toward the end of her earthly life, before she lapsed into a coma, June would use her major medical crises to inspire people to see God’s transcendent and healing goodness, even in the midst of pain and suffering. —An authentic inspiration and spiritual heroine to the very end!