the good fight: vespers of seniors' night 2013

St. Paul sensing that he may not be able to make it out of prison, and sensing that the torch must now be passed to the younger generation, wrote a letter to Timothy.  In this letter, a portion of which we have just read, Paul is comparing his journey as an apostle serving the Lord to several things one could find in an athletic competition. 

First, he said that it was a good fight.  The word fight refers to an athletic competition that was well played, where the athlete has given his all and his best.  He may have lost the competition, but it was a fight where an athlete can still talk proudly about.  The Greek word which is translated as “fight” is agon and this word is the source of our English word agony.  Here is a good fight - an athlete seemingly reaching for his last breath, full of perspiration, wet all over, his senses all alert, his eyes wide open, the holes of the nose are so wide open you can almost peer inside and the mouth and the nose are sucking air all at once as if it was the last air it could ever have, and the athlete may be carrying a limp but he is walking tall.  It was a good fight.  This is the image of an athlete coming out of the field having just fought the good fight.  He has given everything he got.  Everything.  Wala na sia may ginhawidan, wala na sia may gintago, wala na sia may ginpa-in in caso, wala na may nabilin, wala na may ibuga pa kay ginbuga na ang tanan.  That’s the picture of agon – the fight called good by St. Paul.

Second, St. Paul said I have finished the race.  This kind of race does not have a connotation of speed.  So it does not speak of a sprint for example, a 100 meter, 200 meter, 500 meter, or a 1,000 meter race.  No it speaks of a long distance run, a marathon (42.195 kilometres), an ultra running event.  So St. Paul is not talking about velocity.  He is not talking about speed. Rather he talks to Timothy about perseverance.  He talks to Timothy about persistence, determination, doggedness – this is about resolve, this is about strength of mind, this is about will power, this is about strength of character, this is about staying focused, this is about sense of purpose and mission.  Indi ini padasig-dasig, this is about sticking it out no matter what, this is sticking it in, never giving up.

As we end the year let us get wisdom from unlikely places.  I have read your application letters and I would like to congratulate you for your honesty and for your candidness.  But for purposes of putting flesh to St. Paul’s injunction let me glean wisdom from our first year brother seminarians  as they hurdled the first years of their baby steps towards the goal; how they would look at things when in their young years distance to the goal can be overwhelming and seemingly unattainable. 

The first advice comes from Roger Ric. He said:  “You cannot call community where there is only good.  Like the coin the front side cannot exist when the back doesn’t exist.  So it means that in every good thing there is an opposite.  The seminary isn’t a place to be happy.  It is a place where you are disciplined and taught good morals.”  There are people in the college who have considered giving up.  There are people, first years among them who at one point got the shock of their lives when they found out that this is an imperfect place, that our place is not utopia.  The problem with looking for happiness first is the tendency to get in the wrong places and with the wrong reasons.  Happiness is a consequence of finding the goal but it is not the goal.  Beautiful – there is wisdom there, but you just have to piece it together.

The second wisdom to live by if you want to finish the race comes from Karl June Angelo who wrote: I would like to inform your good office that I will proceed to the next formation year 2012-2014.  These are the reasons:  I like the schedules here, I like the food here.  I like the time management here,  And I like the discipline here.  He repeated the word like 4 times.

Here’s the same line of thought by Michael Joseph:   I like it here because I have a lot of friends and I like the food here, especially every breakfast.  I also like the sports here and also I like the dorms it is big enough for us and I like the CR because its clean.  I also like the academics here because it is not really hard and I got high grades.  So I would like to apply.  He repeated the word like 6 times.

Imagine, they liked the food, they like the schedule, Karl likes the discipline.   The attitude I would like to point out is like.  Probably in the evaluation many of you and that includes me have pointed out what we do not like.  Here they pointed out what they like.  You see, you cannot change the world to your liking.  But you can like it as it is.   Love is not just falling in love.  You can learn to love something.  It may not always be love at first sight, but learn to love it.  This too is the root of persistence.

Here is another one, something that should be there at the core of our being so that we can given our all to something.  Here is something from Paolo Niño:  “I would like to inform you good office of the intention of proceeding.  Because I want to be one of the great priests of our time.  I also want to put myself in a higher formation, I also want to be responsible and religious person even if I will not be a priest.  And I want my family to be proud in all my success.” 

In this short paragraph he repeated the word want 4 times.  He knows what he wants and he can articulate to me.  Many times we go through life unclear even just to ourselves about what we really want.  Many times we cannot articulate even to ourselves what we truly want.  But to succeed in something you have to want it and want it badly.

Lastly, here is one wisdom from Michael Fritz who said:  “I like it here but sometimes some of my classmates tease me, but my friends are here to defend me, they are here with me always and we always take care of each other.”  Do you have friends who can defend you when you are down and out, when you feel people are out to get you?   Do you have friends who can speak for you when you can no longer speak for yourself, who can honestly vouch for you when he is no longer able to stand on his own?  Do you take care of each other?  I mean even if all else abandon you and leave you?  I mean real care, real concern, I mean honest concern and truthful caring?  Are we are caring community?

The year is almost over.  It hurts us to say goodbye to our fourth year brothers.  But remember this was just one other lap and there is still another.  The goal is the priesthood, not ordination but service in the church.  Some will follow the route towards this, others will follow a different route and continue their running elsewhere.  Wherever you have to run, run it well giving your all, persevering and persisting, resolved and determined.  The youngest among us have shared their wisdom, they are our gurus for now.  Live by the wisdom  they shared with us:  the world will not always correspond to our ideals there will always be good and bad, but learn to like it, learn to love what is there; know what you want and work hard to attain it; and value friendships, value your community, take care of each other.