Tribute to Cory Aquino

Fr. Johnny Go, SJ, director of Xavier School in Greenhills San Juan made this tribute to a former president, a loving grandmother and mother, a woman of hope, courage and freedom. In the info beside the video, Fr. Go wrote:

She was swept to power by the world's first peaceful revolution, the People Power EDSA Revolution of 1986. From Boston, she returned home with her children in 1983 to bury her husband, Ninoy Aquino, who had been assassinated in the airport tarmac and in a breathtaking turn of events, led her people in dismantling the Marcos dictatorship and became the Philippines' first woman president.

Now, grateful for all that she has done, we pray for Cory as she battles her illness. Yellow ribbons, the symbol of the opposition movement she led in 1986, are sprouting in places physical and virtual. We thank the Lord for sending us this widow who wrapped her grief over her assassinated husband with faith and turned it into infectious courage.

I put this together from all sorts of YouTube videos and pictures on line. This is my tribute to the widow who led the nation in braving that storm. She made me proud to be Filipino.

She once have said in an inspiring message, and I quote, "I am burning the candle of my life in the dark, with no one to benefit from the light. The candle slowly melts away. Soon its wick will burn out, and the light is gone. If only someone will gather the melted wax, reshape it, give it a new wick. For another fleeting moment, my candle can once again light the dark, be of service one more time, and then, goodbye."

Now that there's already a lit path because of you, I take the challenge to be the wick of your remolded candle, ignite anew, and share the light to others, who still are in the dark. This is my promise, until another gathers our melted wax, and be its wick for the next generation.

"Cory, Laban!"

Fr. Santos G. Mena, SJ

I knew Fr. Mena when he was the Treasurer of Xavier School. Though I've only gotten the chance to talk to him and get to know him better only when I was in 3rd year.

The strongest memory I have of Fr. Mena, besides the batch mass he did for our class during my 4th year, was that he is a man with a passion.

He has this huge collection of stamps, which I really admire. During that time, when he displayed his collection in the HS LRC, I was a frequent visitor. I was amazed at the enormous set of stamps, which covered more or less 13 countries from around the world. Ever since, I became more thrilled in expanding my collection. Thanks to Fr. Mena, I learned to appreciate the stamps that I have in my collection even more.

For more, I got really excited, and was very thankful because he shared his collection (excess) to the students who want to have stamps or who want to collect them. I remember that he had this whole big 2-3 foot box full of stamps.

Besides the stamp collecting, he was passionate about Xavier. His years of service to Xavier and, of course, his book, Luceat Lux, says it all. Without Fr. Mena, I personally think that Xavier wouldn't be what/where it is today.

Early last Monday morning, the 14th of July 2008, Fr. SANTOS MENA, SJ joined his Creator after years of fighting cancer. He was 79 years of age. Upon his request, Fr. Mena returned to Spain to stay in the Jesuit Infirmary in Salamanca, Spain, where he received the medical care that he needed.Born in Cevico-Navero (Palencia), Fr. Mena entered the Novitiate in Salamanca on 30 July 1947. Soon after entering the Society, he was assigned to the China Mission. He was ordained a priest on 18 March 1962.

A memorial Mass will be held in honor of Fr. Mena today, Friday, July 18, 6:00 pm at the Xavier School Multi-Purpose Center. Alumni, colleagues, and friends of Fr. Mena are all invited to honor this great missionary who spent most of his life serving in Xavier School.

Notes of condolences may be sent to his sisters, Ma. Socorro Gonzalez Mena (Cisneros 6, 2 Izqda., 34004 Palencia, Spain) and Ma. Angeles Gonzalez Mena (Apartado de Correo 733, 34080 Palencia, Spain).

Who or What Inspires Me?

I got this link from a friend, and I guess I'm giving it a shot (at the same time, helping them in their project). The blog title's Inspire_Me. They created the blog to continue a successful thread in their Yahoo Answers question "Who or What inspires you?" The goal of their blog is "to be an outlet for people who would want to share where or from whom they get inspiration from."

I found this really interesting, and decided to create a post for them. And since I want to give this entry some "kick", I'll answer both (who and what) to make this entry more interesting.

WHO? Besides the usual answer "family and friends" blah, I know, and I am proud to say that my inspiration is (or rather my insparations are) my org-mates at CSA (Chinese Student Association). Cheesy as it may sound, they're like family to me now, and I owe a lot to them :3

Photo By: Sean Tiu

WHAT? I would like to share a poem by former Jesuit Superior General, Fr. Pedro Arrupe, S.J. My uncle, Martin Gomez, introduced me to this poem, and since then, I have fallen in love with it. It ever fails to lighten up my days. It never fails to give me hope, and a spark when the light’s starting to dim, or when all else seems to fail. ^_^.

“Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than falling in a love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the mornings, what you will do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.”

So, if you want to share who or what inspires you, you can visit their blog here, or email them your own story, and get featured in their blog. :)