EXTRA CHALLENGE - Religio, Mores, Cultura

I will continue, O my God, to do all my actions for the love of You.

After this summer, I will be a graduate of De la Salle University, Manila—albeit unofficially. When I go home, I impose upon myself the challenge to live up to the Lasallian spirituality of faith, of ardent zeal to teach and of community. This imposition, however, is in no way a moral obligation which demands public censure when abandoned in unjustifiable oblivion. This apparently compelling act is a humble response to the Lasallian challenge of right relation with God, the right relation with my fellow men and women, and the right appreciation of my tradition.

Religio. John Baptist de la Salle’s faith in God is beyond question. When he “declassed” himself to live and lead a frugal life in order to be with the poor, demanded immense faith in God’s ultimate plan for him. I don’t know. Yet he persisted. Call it a blind faith but faith after all is blind. When I decided to rest from hospital practice, I blindly followed my heart which led me to a small Catholic high school in our place. I am a doctor by profession but by taking the risk eight years ago, I am now a teacher by vocation. I don’t know. Where would this lead me? I asked myself eight years ago. Now, I know. By taking a blind leap of faith, I found my Faith. Religio.

Mores. John Baptist de la Salle’s love for his fellow men and women is beyond question. When he “denounced” his priestly title (not the function) to become a brother, he showed to us all how he valued human relation next to God. From this extraordinary regard for his fellowmen sprang forth a unique brotherhood which brought to us a distinctive kind of Christ-centered education—the De la Salle schools. I will continue, O my God, to do all my actions for the love of You. I may have stopped listening heart beats with the stethoscope but in the process won the many innocent hearts of my students and their parents. With John’s inspiration, I hope to be instrumental in the success of whomever I have met and become a brother to. Mores.

Cultura. John Baptist de la Salle’s faith in God and his love for his fellowmen were all geared towards a true spirit of community. He preserved tradition but he was not traditional. He adhered to convention but he was not conventional. He revolutionized education yet he was not revolutionary. He preserved tradition; he adhered to convention and he revolutionized education all for the spirit of true community. He envisioned an almost perfect community where conventions were adhered to and traditions preserved for the future of humanity. I adore in all things, the will of God, in my regard. I am not John and never will I become him but with his humbling experience with God, I believed that in my own simple ways I can help preserve traditions and make life more bearable for all. I can do this by becoming one of the best Christian educators I can be. I have to live and conduct myself as one good model of Christian virtues. I am not perfect but with John de la Salle’s inspiration and example, I am more challenged to work hard to getting close to perfect. Nobody is perfect. Cultura.

Religio, Mores, Cultura. When I go home next month, it will not be a welcome of much pomp and pageantry because I have graduated from the premier university—the De la Salle University, Manila. When I go home next month, it will be of renewed vigor and spirit to accomplish the extra challenges which I have kindly imposed upon myself. Call me not a masochist for I am not. These self-imposed challenges of right relation with God, the right relation with my fellow men and women, and the right appreciation of my tradition fail dismally in comparison to what St. John Baptist de la Salle have done and have gone through. This self-imposed challenge is my humble response to a call for a unique spirituality that hinges on the spirit of faith, ardent pedagogical zeal and true community. Only then when I will have faced and won the challenges can I call myself a true blooded green archer for now I am not. Religio, Mores, Cultura.

Live Jesus in our hearts, forever!

(This was written three years ago, on my last summer in La Salle)