In just over a month --- from the time she checked into the hospital for the final phase of her lingering battle against colon cancer --- her spirit has once more energized and transformed the Filipino psyche’. When we knelt to pray and witness the Eucharist in the healing masses that were celebrated for her, we rediscovered the power of faith: faith in the Almighty and faith in ourselves.
Indeed, she was our rallying point. She also guided us like the North Star, enabling us to reflect on the essential lessons of life and death. In the process, she inspired us to re-connect ourselves to the place of inner wisdom, and to re-affirm that we have the capacity to regenerate and transform ourselves --- as we did after the death of her husband Ninoy in 1983 and during our national epiphany at Edsa, circa 1986.
In 1983, we first tied the yellow ribbons of hope to await Ninoy’s return from exile. When he was brutally murdered, she echoed his credo --- “The Filipino is worth dying for” --- and transformed it into an a battle cry of hope: “The Filipino is worth living for.”
In his homily at the requiem mass before her remains were moved out of La Salle, Tarlac Bishop Florentino Cinense urged us in his homily to turn grief into purposive action. Let’s tie these yellow ribbons in our hearts to remind ourselves that we need to nurture hope and optimism for the future of our beloved homeland. Let President Cory’s happy memory inspire us to step up and declare that, indeed, each of us is willing to be responsible for shaping a better life and future for our country.
No more whining and carping. No more finger pointing and chitchatting. No more pining for what-could-have been. No more sayang and puwede na. Enough of complacency and mediocrity. Enough of the playing-victim syndrome.
Recall that after more than a million Filipinos signed up to urge her to lead the fight for the restoration of democracy --- and after fervent prayer and discernment --- she took up the challenge joyfully and rekindled hope in our hearts.
Indeed she was the embodiment of courage. Corazon is Spanish for heart; couer is heart in French and is the root word of courage. To be courageous is not really to be fearless. It is to have heart, it is to love and have affection, it is to dare to care and share. Her authentic act of courage and daring was to willfully care for our country and people. It was to share her God-given talents, even at the cost of great personal sacrifice.
President Cory also taught us another dimension of courage: it means to have faith, to believe in an Almighty and merciful God who lovingly holds us in the hollow of His hands. Her bone-deep credo: work as if everything depends on your earnest efforts, then leave the rest to God.
What can we do to honor the memory of President Cory? What can we do to carry on what she believed in and taught us to believe?
Paano natin itutuloy ang laban ni Ninoy at Cory? (How can we carry on the fight of Ninoy and Cory?)
We begin with ourselves. I will be the originator of initiatives to help others, the author of stories of caring, the volunteer and the worker.
I will believe that God created me to be good and to do good. I will harness my God-given talents and abilities. I will share what I know with others. I will reach out and extend a helping hand to those around me who need my help and encouragement. I will join my loved ones, friends, and neighbors in building communities of sharing and caring.
I will look beyond myself. I will be willing to make sacrifices, to endure inconvenience, maybe even suffer some pain, to do what it takes to make a difference, and to enable those living in the margins to swim in the mainstream of social opportunity.
Corazon Aquino was a gentle and happy crusader. She was a prayer warrior. She stormed the heavens with faith and fervor. That is how she weathered and hurdled tremendous challenges. That is how she triumphed over adversity. That is how she led us from the darkness of dictatorship to the brightness and warmth of freedom.
And then, while standing on terra firma, she respected her fellow human beings, and made ordinary folks feel special by treating them extraordinarily well. That is how she touched our lives: by connecting with us in a way that conveyed an authentic sense of solidarity and human bonding.
She wielded tremendous power: no, not the power and authority of the highest office that she occupied. She wielded awesome power: prayer power and people power. In the same manner that she moved millions of Filipinos into action, we now need to move ourselves to action.
Ninoy and Cory showed us the way. They fought the good fight and finished the race. Now it is up to us to continue walking in the path of goodness and light.
President Cory, hindi ka nag-iisa. Mahal ka namin, President Cory!
