homily of fr. catalino arevalo, s.j. for tita cory's funeral mass

We give her back to You, with grateful but breaking hearts"

By Catalino Arevalo, SJ

(Homily at the Funeral Mass for former President Cory Aquino, Manila Cathedral, August 5, 2009)

IF I may, I will first ask pardon for what might be an unseemly introduction. In the last days of President Cory’s illness, when it seemed inevitable that the end would come, the assignment to give this homily was given to me by Kris Aquino. She reminded me that many times and publicly, her mother had said she was asking me to preach at her funeral Mass. Always I told her I was years older, and would go ahead of her, but she would just smile at this. Those who knew Tita Cory knew that when she had made up her mind, she had made up her mind.

What then is my task this morning? I know for certain that if liturgical rules were not what they are, she would have asked Congressman Ted Locsin to be here in my place. No one has it in him to speak as fittingly of Cory Aquino in the manner and measure of tribute she uniquely deserves, no one else as he. Asked in an interview, she said that the address before the two Houses of Congress at Washington she considered perhaps the supreme shining moment of her life. We know who helped her with those words with which she conquered America . These last few days, too, every gifted writer in the press and other media has written on her person and political history, analyzed almost every side of her life and achievement as our own “icon of democracy”. More powerfully even, images of her and of Edsa Uno have filled hour after hour of TV time. Really, what else is left to be said?

SO, Tita Cory, you’ll forgive me if I don’t even try to give a shadow of the great oration that should be given here this morning. Let me instead try to say some things the people who persevered for hours on end in the serried lines at Ortigas or here in Intramuros can (I hope) more easily follow. This is a lowly tribute at one with “the old sneakers and clothes made tighter by age, soaked by water and much worse for wear” of the men, women and children who braved the rain and the sun because they wanted to tell you, even for a brief and hurried moment, how much they love you. You truly “now belong among the immortals”. But these words are for those mortals who with bruised hearts have lost “the mother of a people”. Maybe less elegantly than the seminarian said to me Monday, they would like to say also: “She was the only true queen our people have ever had, and she was queen because we knew she truly held our hearts in the greatness and the gentleness of her own.”

One of my teachers used to tell us that if we really wanted to know and understand a position held, we would have to learn it from someone fully committed to it. Just as only one who genuinely loves a person, really knows him or her also. So to begin with, I turned to three real “experts on Cory”; to ask them where for them the true greatness of Cory Aquino lay. My first source thought it was in her selflessness, seen above all in her love of country—surely above self; yes, even above family. Her self-giving, then, for us; what she had received, all became gift for us. The second, thought it was in her faith her greatness lay, in her total trust in God which was also her greatest strength. And the third said it was in her courage and the unshakable loyalty that went with it. It was a strength others could lean on; it never wavered; it never broke....Cory’s selflessness and self-giving; her faith (the Holy Father just called it “unwavering”); her courage, her strength. May I use this short list to frame what I will say?

O, let me name my experts now, if I may. They were three, all of them women close to her: Maria Elena Aquino Cruz, whom we know as Ballsy, Maria Aurora Aquino Abellada, Pinky to her friends; and Victoria Elisa Aquino Dee, Viel to the family. Kris and Noynoy are the public figures; they can speak for themselves. I hope they will forgive me that I did not ask.

First, selflessness

First, then, her generous selflessness. For us this morning what is surely most to the point is her love of country. When her final illness was upon her already, she said—most recently at the Greenmeadows chapel (her last public words, I think)—that she was offering her suffering, first to God, then for our people. I heard that grandson Jiggy asked her why first for country and people, and she said that always the priority line-up was God, our country and our people, and then family. On radio, the other night, the commentator asked an old woman in line why she stood hours in the rain to get into La Salle . “Ito lang ang maibibigay ko po sa kanya, bilang pasasalamat.” “Bakit, ano ba ang ibinigay ni Cory sa inyo?” “Di po ba ang buhay nya? Ang buong sarili nya? At di po ba ang pag-asa? Kaya mahal na mahal po namin siya.” Early on, on TV, they ran many times the clip from a last interview. She says, “I thank God, and then all of you, for making me a Filipino, for making me one of you. I cherish this as one of the truly great gifts I have received.” A few weeks from her death, she could say that; without put-on or the least insincerity. “I thank you, for making me one of you.”

Her selflessness, her self-gift. Pope Benedict likes to say that the God whom Jesus Christ revealed to us, is Father. A Father who is wholly self-gift; the God “whose nature is to give Himself”—to give Himself to us, in His Son. And, the Pope says, that is what is the meaning of Jesus and the life of Jesus, and, by discipleship, what the Christian’s life is meant to be. We Christians, too, we must give ourselves away in the self-giving of love.

“Ang buhay po nya at sarili. Kaya po mahal na mahal namin sya.” In the last days, when finally and reluctantly still she admitted she had much pain, I kept thinking that only a couple of weeks before, for the first time publicly, she said that she was offering it up first of all for us.

Second, her faith

Second, her faith. Pinky says, it was her mother’s greatest strength; it was what was deepest in her. Her faith was her bedrock, and it was, bedrock. Frederick Buechner the ordained minister and novelist likes to say that through his lifetime, he’s had many doubts, even deep doubt, daily doubts. “But I have never really looked down into the deep abyss and seen only nothing. Somehow I have known, that underneath all the shadows and the darkness, there are the everlasting arms.” I think Cory’s faith was like that, not in the multiplicity of doubts (even if, in a life so filled with trial, there surely were doubts too), but in the certainty of the everlasting arms. More than once she told me, “Every time life painted me into a corner, with seemingly no escape, I always turned to Him in trust. I knew He would never abandon us if we trusted in Him. And you know, somehow, He found a way out for us.” And so Pinky says, “Mom was always calm even in the most trying times. She trusted God would always be there for us, She was our source of strength. She made this world seem so much safer and less cruel for us. And now that our source of strength is gone, we have to make our faith something more like hers. But we know in our hearts that in every storm she will watch over us from heaven.”

Devotion to Mary

Within this faith was her devotion to Mary, the place Our Lady of Fatima and the rosary held in her life. All we can say on this, this morning is that Our Lady truly had a special, living presence in her life: Mary was, for Cory, true mother and incomparable friend; as we say in the hymn—vita, dulcedo et spes: life, sweetness and hope. No, Mary was not the center of her faith, but its air, its atmosphere; and the rosary, her lifeline through every trial and crisis. In the long harsh months of her illness, Sister Lucia’s beads almost never left her hands. She was holding them, as last Saturday was dawning and her years of exile were at last done, when we know her Lady “showed unto her, the blessed fruit of her womb.”

Third, courage

Lastly, her courage, her strength. Her children tell us that their father was only able to do what he wanted to do, because her loyalty and her support for his purposes was total, so she practically raised them up as a single parent. Ninoy himself wrote, again and again, that he endured imprisonment and persecution, leaning so much on her courage and love. And after his death, when she could have withdrawn in a way “safely” to her own life with her children at last, she stayed on her feet and fought on in the years that followed, through the snap elections and what went before and after them, through her presidency and the seven coup attempts which tried to bring her down. Even after she had given up her rule, could she not have said “enough”, and we would all have understood? But with not the least desire for position or power again, whenever she thought the spaces of freedom and the true good of our land were threatened, she went back to the streets of struggle again. Once again she led us out of the apathy we so readily fall into; once again she called us out of our comfort zones to the roads of sacrifice.

Purity of heart

Here, even hesitantly, may I add one trait, one virtue, to those her daughters have named? One day Cardinal Stephen Kim of South Korea asked if he might visit her. Through Ballsy, she said yes. It was a day Malacañang was “closed”; they were making up the roster of members of the forthcoming Constitutional Convention. Someone from the palace staff ordered us turned away when we came; it was Ballsy who rescued us. Stephen Kim, hero and saint to his own people—perhaps, along with Cardinal Sin, one the two greatest Asian Catholic prelates of our time—spent some 45 minutes talking with her. When we were on our way back, he said, “I know why the Lord has entrusted her with power, at this most difficult time...It is because she is pure of heart. She has no desire for power; even now it is with reluctance she takes it on. And she has done this only because she wants to do whatever she can for your people.” He said, “She truly moves me by the purity of her spirit. God has given a great gift to your people.”

With this purity of heart, in the scheme of the Christian Gospel, there is joined another reality which really, only the saints understand. It is suffering. How often (it is really often; over and over through the years) she spoke of suffering as part of her life. Much contemporary spirituality speaks of suffering almost as the epitome of all evil. But in fact for all the saints, it is a mystery they themselves do not really understand nor really explain, Yet they accept it quietly, simply as part of their lives in Christ. There is only one painting she ever gave me. Kris said then, when her mom gave it to me, that it was her mom’s favorite. The painting carries 1998 as its date; Cory named it “Crosses and roses.” There are seven crosses for the seven months and seven weeks of her beloved Ninoy’s imprisonment, and for the seven attempted coups during her presidency, and many roses, multicolored roses all around them. At the back of the painting, in her own hand, she wrote a haiku of her own: “Crosses and roses/ make my life more meaningful./ I cannot complain.” Often she spoke of her “quota of suffering.” When she spoke of her last illness, she said: “I thought I had filled up my quota of suffering, but it seems there is no quota. I look at Jesus, who was wholly sinless: how much suffering he had to bear for our sake.” And in her last public talk (it was at Greenmeadows chapel), the first time she spoke of her own pain: “I have not asked for it, but if it is meant to be part of my life still, so be it. I will not complain.” “I try to join it with Jesus’s pain and offering. For what it’s worth, I am offering it up for our people.” Friends here present, I tell you honestly I hesitated before going into this, this morning. But without it, part of the real Cory Aquino would be kept from view. Quite simply, this was integral to the love she bore for her people.

Thanks to her children

AT this point, may I, following the lead Mr. Rapa Lopa has given, just speak a word of thanks to President Cory’s children, who shared so much of her service and her sacrifice. They have almost never had their father and mother for themselves. For so many years, they have been asked to share Ninoy and Cory with all of us. And because of the blood and the spirit their parents have passed on to them, they too gave with generosity and grace the sacrifices we demanded of them. Ballsy and Pinky, Viel and Kris, your husbands and your children, and Senator Noynoy, may we thank you this morning from all our hearts, and may we offer also the gratitude of the hearts of a people now forever in your debt.

I have used up all my time, some of you will say, and I have not even approached the essential: her political life, that she was our nation’s unique icon of democracy, that Cory Aquino who is know throughout the world; was TIME magazine’s 1986’s woman of the year; she who led the ending of the dictatorship that had ruined our nation, the bearer of liberation, of freedom, and of hope for a prostrate people.

So, by your leave, may I add one item, along this line at last. In October 1995, Milano’s Catholic University , conferred on her the doctorate honoris causa in the political sciences (incidentally, only her twenty-third honorary degree). This was only the fifth time this particular one had been given since the university’s inception: the first time to an Asian, the first ever to a woman. She wanted, at the end of her lectio magistralis, to spell out, perhaps for the first time with some explicitness and completeness, her personal political creed. She listed seven basic beliefs which, regarding political life , she said she tried to live by. Then she spoke of one more, “one more I may not omit.” Perhaps the paragraph which followed is worth citing here, even without comment, because it has something to say to our present hour.

(We cite her words now.) “I believe that the vocation of politics must be accepted by those who take up the service of leadership as a vocation in its noblest meaning: it demands all of life. For the life of one who would lead his or her people—in our time as never before—such a life must strive for coherence with the vision aspired to, or else that vision itself and its realization are already betrayed. That vision must itself be present, in some authentic way, in those who seek to realize it: present, in the witness of their example; present, in a purity of heart vis-à-vis the exercise and usages of power; present, in an ultimate fidelity to principle, in a dedication that is ready to count the cost in terms of ‘nothing less than everything.’ It is Cardinal Newman, I believe, who said that in this world, we do good only in the measure that we pay for it in the currency of our own lives. For us Christians, there is always the image of Jesus, and the price his service demanded of him. And for me there has been, as a constant reminder, the sacrifice my husband offered, and the word that it has spoken, to me and my people.” (Cory Aquino, end of citation)

Conclusion

With all this said, I am done. Ma’am, tapos na po ang assignment ko. It has been so hard to do what you asked. But I comfort myself that these so many words really do not matter. What counts in the end is really—what all this week has been; these past few days’ outpouring of our people’s gratitude and love; what will come after all this today; what we will do, in the times ahead, in fidelity to your gift. I received a text last night from a man of some age and with some history behind him. “She made me proud again, to be Filipino.” Maybe that says it all. Cardinal Sin used to put it somewhat differently. “What a gift God has given our people, in giving Cory Aquino to us.” The nobility and courage of your spirit, the generosity of your heart, the grace and graciousness that accompanied you always. They called it “Cory magic”—but it was the truth, and the purity and beauty, clear and radiant within you, that we saw. And the hope that arose from that. And when the crosses came to you and you did not refuse to bear them, more to be one with your Christ and one with your people and their pain. “Blessed are the pure of heart; for they shall see God.”

Thank You Father in heaven, for your gift to us of Cory Aquino. Thank You that she passed once this way through our lives with the grace You gave her to share with us. If we give her back to you, we do it with hearts of thanksgiving, but now, oh, with breaking hearts also, because of the greatness and beauty of the gift which she was for us, the likes of which, perhaps, we shall not know again. Salamat po, Tita Cory, mahal na mahal po namin kayo.

paalam tita cory

{this is my personal photo tribute to tita cory}

graduation homily

{today i started packing my things in balik-bayan boxes to be sent to manila. i had mixed feelings. i started missing iloilo already. i am just enjoying every moment that i am here. here is the homily i delievered during the high school graduation last march.}

Homily (HS Graduation)

Santa Maria Parish Church

25 March 2009

Good morning dear friends and graduates. It brings me such joy and honor to stand here and be with you on this special moment in your life, not to guide you like in our practices for the past days, but this time to simply honor you by giving this morning’s homily. You have been a good batch. That is why it is no surprise for us your teachers that one hundred fourteen of you started the school year, one hundred fourteen will be graduating this afternoon. Because of this, I think all of you here today should pat yourselves on the shoulder for a job truly well done. You deserve to be congratulated and receive warm applauses today.

Let me then start my homily with a story. One Sunday afternoon of November last year, I went up to the faculty room to get some of the hundreds Skills Workout to check. And since I was already at the fourth floor, I decided to check the classroom of my advisory class if it was ready for the week. And there I saw a saddening sight that could break any adviser’s heart. The classroom was in total, total mess. Instead of feeling angry, somehow the Holy Spirit touched me that I had the urge to simply pick-up the broom and start sweeping the floor and arranging the chairs. After cleaning the room, I noticed that the other fourth year rooms were also a heart breaker. Since I still have time, and somehow again touched by the Holy Spirit, I started cleaning one room to another.

My dear friends, I am telling you this story not to make you feel guilty about the mess you have left behind one day in November, but come to think of it, there is a good reflection here. Let me then propose to you an image from my story that I will use all throughout this homily. And that image is, passing by. Every moment in our life is a passing by. We are just passing by. Some passing by are like short stopovers. We pass by a boutique, a gift shop, a restaurant, the mall before going to a party or a big event. Some passing by takes a long period of time before we can move on. We are just passing by when we studied in prep, in grade school, and recently in high school, and later in college. And for some they will pass by graduate school, medical school, or law school. We are just passing by.

Because these moments are just passing by, and you are just passing by high school, there are perhaps three dominant feelings I think you are feeling right now: relief, anxiety, and hope. Relief, anxiety, and hope, these are the normal feelings I feel one encounters in passing by.

First, relief. After passing by high school, there must be a relief feeling: tapos na!; wala nang exams; wala nang investigative projects; and most of all, the most important relief of all, wala nang Sir H sa buhay ko! Secondly, after the relief feeling, comes fear or at least anxiety. You realize that it is not yet over. There is still college. You still have to pass by college and even beyond college. Or perhaps at this early, thoughts of uncertain future creep on you because of the confusing and unending problems that our country is facing today. And lastly, there is still the hopeful feeling. “A chapter of my life ends, a chapter of my life will start. Now I can make my dreams come true! I’m going to make a difference! My life is about to start!” Relief, anxiety, and hope: truly not abnormal emotions at all, because today something is truly ending in your life and something else beginning. On this day then, when your life is changing, perhaps more than you know, we pray for you. We pray that “as the setting sun bids farewell,” with three gifts for your life ahead, three gifts inspired by today’s readings.

First, we pray that your relief may deepen into gratitude. Yes, it’s all over. You made it. But if you look more deeply, you might recognize, like the story of Jesus in today’s Gospel, that the achievement of these past four years was not simply the result of your striving, but a gift much like the miracle of Jesus that surprised the unsuspecting crowds who didn’t believed in him.

Second, we pray that your anxiety may be tempered by faith, a faith that is really a deep trust in the One who is always near but whom we often don’t recognize, as the first reading assures us. The Lord said, before he formed you in the womb of your mother, he knew you. Before you will receive your diploma today, before you will be set off from our school, he has felt every beat of your heart as you rejoice in gladness. Before you will face the challenges and difficulties in life, he already knows all your doubts and worries. Our God is a loving God and He will always be with you.

Finally, we pray that your hope be broadened by responsibility. What does this mean? As Pope Benedict reminded us in his encyclical: “Our hope is always essentially hope for others. . . . we should never limit ourselves to asking: how can I save myself? We should also ask: what can I do in order that others may be saved and that for them too the star of hope may rise?” (Spe Salvi, 48). Thus, our prayer: that you expand your dreams to include always a deep sense of responsibility for the future of our country and our people, especially the poor. I think your retreat experience invites you to become fishers of men and women, drawing in the net for the Lord. So, we pray, it may be with you.

Dear graduates of the class of 2009, relieved, anxious, hopeful friends, these then are our prayers for you as you leave the Ateneo today: may your relief deepen into gratitude; may your anxiety be tempered by faith; and may your hope broaden into responsibility; Grateful, faithful, responsible Ateneans, may you thus be for our world and our time truly In Ominibus Amare et Servire, to love and serve the Lord.

Before I end, I wish to name a final feeling that I believe some of you feel and that I have not mentioned till now: sadness. Even few weeks before the 4^th quarter exams, I have read different “senti” lines from your batch mates in YM, in Friendster, in Multiply, in Facebook, conveying sad expressions in various images and cues. Of course, the Ateneo has been more than a school for many of us; it has become a home and it is always sad to leave home. I don’t think there’s anything I can say to take away that quiet sadness: it’s just there; high school is over. Allow me to address that sadness though some lines from a European novel:

We will leave each other and go our separate ways. Life will happen to us and change us, sometimes, not for the better. But, if life tempts us to become cynical or bitter or cruel, if we remember these golden days of our friendship, if we remember how we dreamed together, how we were kind to one another, how we were good, then maybe, just maybe, that memory will save us, and draw us away from the forces of darkness that are always threatening to vanquish and capture us.

I would like to end my homily by bringing you back again to the story of the dirty rooms. I guess beyond the feelings of relief, anxiety, and hope when one is passing by, are the memories and the MAGIS we make when we pass by. Fr. Manny, Bro. Manny, and myself are also leaving in the next few weeks and we are just passing by. But perhaps what goes beyond our mixed feelings are the many wonderful and grateful memories we have had that we will always treasure in our hearts as pass by another moment in our life. And this is my challenge to you, my dear friends and batch mates, as you pass by each moment of you life, may you have the urge to make memories and make a difference, by picking-up the broom and start sweeping the floor and arranging the chairs.

Amen.

friends in the lord

{this is a video we have made one time over lunch in our convent just for fun. yet it turn out to be a great video. we have showed it during the thanksgiving dinner and people really cried. hope you'll like this. to my jesuit community, i could never asked for a better jesuit community. thank you very much, my friends in the lord.}

class description

{here's my class description for my class 4 integrity titans which will be publised for the vinculuum yearbook. it has been a great year.}

4 Integrity Mighty Titans (por in-teg-ri-tee mai-tee tīt'n)

– noun

1. Composed of 37 highly distinct, talented and intelligent species, brainstormed by the cunning cute Jesuit to harness, with the principles of truth, diligence, generosity and integrity.
2. An epitome characterized by various shapes and sizes (ex. Monkey, Dr. love, Jackie, owl, kabz, korny, Ryan Agoncillo, valedictorian, buwaya, buang, juday, baka, alien, chris brown, pato, Rihanna, John Lloyd, abnu, scholar ng pilipinas, kamay, armpit, alabuton, tissue, disgrasyada, isog, mr. barker, haring banyo, britishly, isip-ulan, Barney, almost perfect, side kick, small wonders, strong five, extreme five, baon people, etc., etc., etc.) .
3. Always late, always cramming, always second but never the champion, yet bonded with the zeal to make a difference, to take up the challenge, and above all, to have fun and they did.
4. God’s cute and lovable children.

My dearest Mighty Titans,

Do you know what it means to love?

I started this question from our verse choir piece because I think this captures so much with what you have experienced in your 4^th year life. When I first met you during your 3^rd year recollection, I saw a class full of care and love with one another. Remember? The crying boys and girls! Though during that year there weren’t much to celebrate because of the many defeats and struggles you faced along the way. But that’s okay. I saw then the greatness in you and I realized what a great class this could turn out to be. And how mysterious life is? I stepped in as your 4 Integrity adviser though unworthy I am. During my watch, it gives me much pleasure to see you all growing these past months. You are now all different since the very day you stepped in the Integrity room. We never won any championship since the very start. But what is more important than trophies and recognition are the moments you have worked together, struggling to set aside differences and weaknesses. Those moments tested your friendship and bond, and it brought out the best of you. These memories I will always treasure in my heart. And I am so proud, proud, proud of all of you.

Thank you very much for sharing your life and your wonderful friendship with me. Do you still remember the time I said I won’t promise anything to you? But what I can offer is my friendship and presence, and that I will never leave you no matter what. I hope I was able to do this for you. But most of all, I wanted to thank you because you are really part of my vocation. Perhaps you don’t know but you have taught me so many things in life and my heart can’t really explain my gratefulness for you. Truly, "One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes."¹

Lastly, my final message for you is that whenever life seems so difficult to comprehend and to stay on, just remember these three important reminders: 1. God who will always love you unconditionally no matter what; 2. the spirit and memories of Ateneo, a home you can always relish and ignite again your hearts to desire for magis; 3. and somewhere out there, 37 of your friends including me are praying for you and softly cheering on for you … “everywhere we go, people wanna know, who we are, so we tell them, we are the Titans, the mighty mighty Titans, ohh ahh, ohh yeah, . . .”

So, do you know what it means to love?

¹ from The Little Prince

opening credits

{i haven't done much posting for a long time. pero here is one great post. this is the opening credit of our successful "journey to forver musical" last november 7-9. kudos to my idols mayad studios.}


Journey to Forever opening credits from Mayad Studios on Vimeo.

isew speech

{this is a speech i was asked to be given to the whole Ateneo de Iloilo community during the ISEW last may 26-28}

My Role in the Mission of the Ateneo de Iloilo
ISEW – Ateneo de Iloilo
27 May 2008

Good morning my fellow colleagues and friends. I was tasked to give my own reflection on “My Role in the Mission of the Ateneo de Iloilo.” At first I felt unworthy because I have only been here for one year and I believe that most of you can speak more on this theme. Due to my obedience to my superior, I will heed the call and I do hope that in the end of my sharing, I will be able to share some points for us to reflect in this workshop, especially my experiences as a Jesuit which we share a common mission.

Let me then start my sharing with a story. As I was preparing this reflection, I remembered a simple story that happened during my last year in college. During that time in Ateneo de Zamboanga, we would have a beauty contest called Miss Ateneo that would happen as a starting event for our weeklong Ateneo Fiesta on early Decembers. During that time I was part of the team that was to coach our contestant, our Miss Arts and Sciences, how to answer the question and answer portion of the contest. Not that our bet is “stubborn” or sort, but because we want our contestant to be as prepared as possible. Before the actual contest, our team would think of all the possible questions that the judge may ask and also think of the possible intelligent answers to those questions.

Just minutes before the question and answer portion of the contest, we made some final preparations. Suddenly, it just came to us, what if the question would be about the vision and mission of the school. Among all the possible questions, this question is what we have overlooked. Luckily, as a good Atenean like myself (ehem!), I have kept a leaflet in my wallet containing a summary of the vision and mission of Ateneo de Zamboanga. So we gave another short review to our contestant. And you know what? The question that our bet raffled has something to do with the vision and mission of the school and our contestant simply aced it and she eventually was crowned as Miss Ateneo of 1997.

Looking back at the story, I was amazed how we have done a great job in making our contestant a winner. Yes, our contestant became Miss Ateneo, but is she really a Miss Ateneo? Let this question be a springboard to my sharing. My sharing will basically focus on two questions that were given: first, what to me is the mission of Ateneo de Iloilo-Santa Maria Catholic School?; and second, how do I contribute to that mission?

Immediately, perhaps, when someone ask us this question, we might run back to what is usually written on the main doors of our school like the 7Cs (Christ-centered; men and women of competence, conscience, compassion, community, character and culture), being a Catholic, a Jesuit, and a Chinese-Filipino school. Perhaps, for someone who is familiar with the Jesuit Education System, this can be easily explained. But for me, answering this question may go beyond what is just written there. It should come from experience and from the heart. For me then, the mission of Ateneo de Iloilo is set our students and each other on fire. What do I mean to set each other on fire? This is not an invitation to go and burn each other, although some of us may occasionally feel that way, but these are images of fire – to be on fire for unity, to be on fire for purity, and to be on fire for service. Let these three images of fire be the three parts of my sharing.

Fire for unity

When there is one flame here and another flame there and you put the flames together, they will not put out each other. They harmonize; they become one flame, a bigger flame. So should it be with us. While we are on fire and we meet another who is on fire, there should be a meeting of hearts. There should be harmony and there should be oneness. As we try to form leaders, our students should be the point of unity because before they are able to lead, they first have to experience to bring us all together.

On the summer of 2006, I was assigned in Dingalan, Aurora to do Gawad Kalinga (GK) work. And there for a month, I helped build 3 GK houses and form the Kapit-Bahayan and the SIGA-Youth Program. I’ve thought that when I will arrive there things will be easy. But it came out differently. My work was really to start their organizations from scratch, elect officers, create by-laws, do initial fund raising, as well as do community building activities. These are the problems of the GK areas that time. When you put together different people from different places to live in one community, tensions can easily start because of these differences. Almost every night there would be disputes from one house to another. Almost every day I have to stand in the middle and facilitate compromises between arguing families. It was a very difficult situation for me. I was alone and sometimes I entertain the thoughts of packing-up. But I remembered a Jesuit friend once told me, that perhaps you don’t need to do anything concrete, but be with them. So I continued despite the difficulties. And then a great opportunity came. After letting them voice out their concerns, I have found a common fire among them, a fire that could lead a stronger and united GK community. They didn’t realize all along that they are brought together because they lost their old homes because of the great typhoon that year. Nobody can ever understand them except they themselves; they have each other to make this work. And slowly things were slowly turning out to be better.

My dear friends, I believe that we all share the same fire that’s why we are all here. Even with our students and parents, they too share the same fire. But putting these fires all together may be a challenging task. Yet this is our mission – we try to unite ourselves so that we can make a change, we can make a difference.

Fire for purity

Fire also cleanses. It purifies. That is why we cook food by subjecting it to fire. We must be on fire with purity -- not only purity that is chastity, but purity that is also honesty and sincerity. Purity also means generosity. The Gospel says that the Kingdom of God cannot be found by those who are lazy. Only those who go all the way, those who are pure of heart can discover the Kingdom of God. That is why the mission of our school is to call on our students to be generous with themselves even to the point of sacrifice, for the good and growth of the school as well as the community.

Two years ago, I was at the Game 4 of UAAP between Ateneo and UST. That year, it was clear that the UST team was better. They were leading in a big way, and it seemed impossible to close the gap. The Ateneo crowd was only one-third of the UST crowd in the jam packed Araneta Coliseum. I was feeling terribly discouraged and wanted to go home, concede defeat, give up, and I suspect many on the Ateneo side felt the same way. But there was a magical moment in the middle of all that discouragement. I don’t know who thought of it, but suddenly someone unfurled a banner for all to see. It simply said, “Summon the heart of a champion.” The effect on us was electric. It was as though someone had slapped us in the face, called us to remember what we had been. All of a sudden there was shouting, cheering, confidence, passion, energy until the end, where once there had been despair and mediocrity. We didn’t win, but it was a magnificent defeat.

Last year, as a class adviser with Sir H, it was not a golden year for our class. We never really won the crown among the many different competitions in high school – from cheerleading to verse choir, from sports events to spelling bee, from Alay kay Maria to Christmas Outreach fund raising. But if I may say so, we did well that year. We did well because we went an extra mile despite we knew that we can only strive as much. By these, winning had become secondary; it was the heart and sacrifices that each and everyone had put that mattered.

Fire for service

The third thing about fire that we should ask of the Lord thru St. Ignatius of Loyola, is that our hearts be on fire for service. This is our mission. We can be tempted to become lukewarm and indifferent to others and on the day our hearts no longer burn with fire, many others will die shivering from the cold! A lot of people are depending on our service to them. Our service takes on the form of igniting not only our students but also the entire Ateneo community so that everyone is given a chance to bring forth their talents and to let their light shine for others.

Whenever I feel tired or perhaps even at lost in my Jesuit vocation, I usually go back to my JVP experiences in Bilibid. As most of you know, I have worked in the New Bilibid Prisons for two full years as a rehabilitation officer. Though working in Bilibid was really tough, it is special in my heart because I have firmly found my Jesuit vocation there. And looking back at my experiences, I would never be this burning if it wasn’t the fire for service that our Jesuit fathers, my fellow program officers, and even the many selfless prisoners, has shown to me. They were persons of passion. Think of it. Sometimes we ask for food to eat because we share our food supplies to those prisoners in the hospital or even to some strangers. Sometimes we beg for money even to those who doesn’t believe in helping the prisoners so that we could send some children of prisoners to school. Sometimes we plead in front of government leaders and public personalities in order for the Death Penalty to be abolished. But in spite of all of these problems and obstacles, these persons of passion never cease to serve, they never cease to love. And I am so edified by their example that it had taught me to do the same no matter what.

Perhaps some of you might not believe the things I have done for the love of the ministry. I was the DJ of the dance during the HS acquaintance party. I sang the Psalm in a school-wide mass. I played basketball against the varsity team. I did cheer dancing and stunts with my students during the intramurals. I conducted a choral singing. I performed magic tricks in a program. I dressed in Korean costume to teach the famous Korean froggy dance in front of the GS assembly. I also dressed in Binukid costume for Fr. Manny’s birthday. I surprised my class by wearing a HS uniform. And most of all, my all time favorite, I dressed in Sto. Niño costume (which I look like a small Black Nazarene) during the Dinagyang week and gave candies to grades 1 and 2 pupils. Until now I still wonder how I did all of these stuff. When I look back with my experiences I sometimes caught laughing at myself about how I look and my different gestures. Yet at the same time I was also cautious that others might get me wrong thinking that I am just playing around. A fool for Christ -- I think this captures that fire for service. Regency for me is really a time to shine, a time to go an extra mile, to try new things, to make a difference. And to do these one must be a sort of a fool, going to the frontiers, all for God’s greater glory. And this is also what I feel is our mission as a school. Whether we are a teacher or staff, we can be a sort of a fool sometimes if only to make even one person realize that he is special and loved by God.

I would like to end my sharing in gratitude and in hope. Thank you very much for this opportunity to be with you, working with you, praying with you, and dreaming with you. I have learned and grown so much for this past year as a Jesuit Regent because of all of you, and I do hope that I have also contributed in my little own ways in fulfilling our school’s mission. And I also hope that I was able to give you some points to ponder on this theme. So when you will be invited to be a contestant of Miss or Mister Ateneo in the future, will you be able to answer in your own words what is YOUR mission in Ateneo de Iloilo. God bless you all and your love ones. Thank you, thank you very much.

Arthur W. Nebrao, Jr., SJ
2^nd Year Jesuit Regent (ADI-SMCS)