As young kids in grade school, we passed around the mite can in the weeks leading to Mission Sunday. These were cans around the size of a fruit cocktail can, very much like the cans you see in supermarket cashiers where you can drop your coins—or bills—for the Red Cross or Bantay Bata. The mite can had a label with a picture of an American Jesuit missionary riding a horse on the slopes of a mountain in Mindanao wearing his white cassock. There was a day when you brought home the mite can to “beg” for the missionaries in Mindanao. It almost felt like a mission. On our way home we’d stop by our relatives’ houses to “beg” and went around the neighbors’ houses, too.
This was something we looked forward to every school year. It had all the elements that inspired a young spirit.
First, it had a sense of urgency that this poor missionary needed our help so badly. Second, it had the inspiring yet humbling story of the Widow’s Mite in the Gospel as the backdrop of what we were doing. Third, in a simple, childlike way, it gave us a sense of fervor that we were doing something important, almost life-changing for the missionaries and their communities.
The task—the “mission”—gave us a sense of urgency to do it: “begging” for coins with our mite cans. We had to fill up the mite can so we could send it soonest!
I wonder if we could recapture this missionary fervor, this sense of urgency, this living an inspired life in the day to day.
Let me share with you two experiences this past week that inspired me and gave me hope.
Last Sunday, we ended a two-day Basic Formation Program for a public school north of Manila. It is a long-term program in partnership with a prominent family and their group of companies. There were a total of 79 administrators and teachers who attended. (Apologies for making this “anonymous,” since I did not get a chance to ask permission from the family to name them.)
The grandson and great grandson of the patriarch who graduated from the said public school came for the last half-day of the program. We asked them to talk to the administrators and teachers.
Both men, father and son, were admirable men. Accomplished and principled, they shared how their forebears played a major role in their formation.
They shared one of the principles the patriarch always told them: “Kapag animado ang mga tao mo, mananalo ka.” (If your team is animated or inspired, you will win.) Then they gave stories of how this guided them.
The father was able to build a chain of stores that redefined the industry they are part of. Pioneering in the field, they soon faced tough competition, but they remained true to their vision and mission. Despite the many challenges and trials, they held on to what they believed in.
Inspired by their vision and a sense of mission, they faced and overcame challenges through the years. Now they continue to pioneer and pursue their founding vision and mission, “animado,” inspired and believing “mananalo sila.”
For his work in his field, the elder was awarded as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines several years ago. Less than two years ago, he was awarded as one of the outstanding persons in his field, an award that could be considered as the equivalent of the Oscars in his industry.
The son, the great grandson, in his junior year in high school, organized a poor community in one of the southern cities of Metro Manila. He worked with them to improve the healthcare in the community, even helping them get their own ambulance. He started various programs for the community with the aim of making them self-sufficient.
He ended by saying, “I realized that I need not wait to finish college. I can start now. This is why I expressed my desire and am committed to be part of this program to help the school of my great grandfather.”
What was most moving that afternoon was when the father, the grandson of the patriarch, said at the end of his talk. “I am who I am because of the influence of my grandfather and my grandfather is who he is because of the years he studied in your school. You formed him in his early years.”
This inspired the teachers, some of whom were in tears.
The second story took place at ABS-CBN. Last Wednesday, we launched the Christmas campaign of the network with the theme, “Magliliwanag ang Mundo sa Kwento ng Pasko” (The world will be brighter with the story of Christmas).
In the Mass that preceded the lighting of the parol, I mentioned how it was a good and exciting time to be at ABS-CBN because of the renewed sense of hope and inspiration that seems to characterize the mood and culture of the community.
When the Christmas station ID was aired after the Mass, some were in tears, and several were saying, “It is a good and exciting time to be here.”
In my work with ABS-CBN, I have witnessed in many instances, even amid adverse situations, what gave the community focus and inspiration was its founding vision, “In the service of the Filipino worldwide.”
Company’s mantra
Last January, we asked the team of MLAC, the group of Dr. Honey Carandang, to debrief our employees in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan who spent days helping in the rescue and relief operations for the victims of Tropical Storm “Sendong” and the resulting floods.
Many of them also lost their homes, but this did not stop them from helping others, even putting their lives on the line.
When Dr. Carandang met with the unit heads, she told them, “You should be proud of your men and women. When we had our debriefing session with them, what kept them going was the company vision that they repeated like a mantra, “In the service of the Filipino worldwide.”
It is a good time for us now. Without denying the challenges and difficulties that continue to confront us as a people and as a nation, it is a good time to be here. We have hope and there is some light that we can have a better future as a people and as a nation.
There is a renewed sense of service in many sectors. The campaign against corruption and working for better services seems to be taking root. While there is still a long way to go in these areas, people feel it is possible. It is starting and happening. People are empowered and more are trying to do what they can.
It is a good time to be here because there is a renewed sense of volunteerism, of service, of doing one’s share in making our communities and our country better.
It is a good time to be here because we have leaders who, in the Lord’s words in today’s Gospel, “did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” This will always be a source of hope.
Today, Mission Sunday and the day of the canonization of St. Pedro Calungsod, we pray, may we be blessed with a missionary spirit, especially our youth, that we may live inspired lives in the day to day.