I just heard the homily of Rev. Father Catalino Arevalo, S.J. during the final mass for Ex-President Cory Aquino on tv and I had to sit down and jot down my thoughts before I lose them and the stirring in my heart is reduced to lethargy. Fr. Arevalo spoke very clearly and poignantly about Cory and his words struck my heart. Yes, when he spoke of Cory’s leadership , there is no better way to define it as the way Cory defined it: (rephrased in my own words since I can not recall it verbatim ) Leadership is a vocation and you have to put all of your life into it. But you must have your vision constantly before you or all your sacrifice will be for nothing. And, have God with you all the time.
Before this, Fr. Arevalo spoke of Cory’s qualities as a leader- her selflessness, her faith, her strength and her sacrifice. He did not speak of great accomplishments – pondering about it, I can not recall an accomplishment that again caught the attention of the nation beyond the one great accomplishment of giving us back democracy- but he spoke of the not too visible accomplishments which are, to me and to most of us, far better and far more important. As a leader, she thought of her position as a vocation. With the purest of intentions, she dedicated her life in doing good which was exemplified by the transparency of all her actions. Always her thoughts were occupied away from herself and towards service for the nation and, above all, service to God.
We are all born to become leaders – stewards of God. Some of us have taken on positions of leadership and the others become leaders in their own right. I am now in a position of leadership in my school and never had I felt the burden of leadership more than now after hearing the words spoken of Cory. May I be able to emulate her strength, a strength coming from her dauntless faith in the great love and mercy of God. May I always be true to my vocation, not becoming “silent and passive” for the service of truth and justice. May I be an instrument towards the realization of our school’s vision and mission – giving less privileged students world class quality education. May I be able to instill to my students faith in God above all.