81st Birth Anniversary of His Eminence Jaime Cardinal Sin, D.D.
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THE GIFT TO REMEMBER
(Homily delivered by His Excellency , Bishop Socrates B. Villegas during the concelebrated Mass, in celebration of the 81st birth anniversary of Jaime L. Cardinal Sin at the Edsa Shrine on August 31, 2009 at 12:15pm)
It has been four years since Cardinal Sin passed away, but I must confess that every now and then I still catch myself choking and crying, missing him. In the immediate years of his passing away, when I needed guidance and discernment, especially on matters affecting the country, it was to Mrs. Aquino, President Cory, that I run to, sought advice and inspiration. That is why you will understand the added sadness that colors this day, because as we remember Cardinal Sin, we are faced with the reality that Tita Cory is not with us anymore either. And in the absence of such great figures who led us from slavery to freedom, how do we cope with such loss? We have to accept that we will never see again a woman like President Cory. And we will never again see a pastor like Cardinal Sin because they were gifts to us from the Lord at particular stages in our journey as a people. But even if President Cory is not with us anymore, even if Cardinal Sin is not with us anymore, God has given us a gift so special that will help us to carry through. And what is it? It is the gift to remember. Because we can still remember, we can still learn from them. Thank you for coming. Because your coming means, you have not forgotten. Thank you for coming. Because your coming means, you still remember.
I must admit that in far away Balanga, every now and then, it crosses my mind that people have short memories, and they have forgotten Cardinal Sin. But your coming today is living proof that he is not forgotten; that his sacrifice is not ignored. And we still remember, and because we still remember, we can still allow them to inspire us. Of the 18 years I spent with Cardinal Sin, longer than the years I spent with my own father, I have many fond memories of him. And until now, Father Arevalo is still pricking my conscience to write a book about Cardinal Sin because, he says, I am the only one who can do it. Until now, I have not written it, not because I feel lazy, but because I still cry and I cannot write. One day maybe, I will be able to write it, in God’s time.
What do I remember about Cardinal Sin? This year, I want to remember him as a reader. He read books. He also read people. He read magazines, but he also read events. He read pamphlets, articles, but he also read minds and hearts. I saw that. He loved books. He loved people. He loved to be in the events.
There are three books that stand out in the table of Cardinal Sin. The first book is Don Quixote de la Mancha in Spanish. He loved to read that book in the original Spanish written by Cervantes. And that probably connects him to Senator Ninoy As you know, Impossible Dream is a song from the Man of La Mancha. Cardinal Sin loved the Spanish language, he said that it was the language of Angels. And I am sure you have heard it said many times, that he loved the Spanish language very much. He was even attempting to teach his driver how to speak Spanish. But his driver only spoke Spanish when he got drunk. He loved not only the Spanish language, but he loved Don Quixote, the dreamer—the dreamer of impossible dreams, because Cardinal Sin had a deep sense of awe, a deep sense of wonder, And he believed in magic, not done by magicians. He believed in the magic of making dreams come true, no matter how impossible.
A sense of awe. A sense of the dreamer. A sense of the romantic. It was almost impossible to take that away from him. He was always a romantic, that is why, when he was not reading, he was humming Somewhere over the Rainbow. He was romantic. He had a sense of awe. He had a sense of wonder. And yet my dear brothers and sisters, that sense of awe, that belief in magic, that sense of wonder, that sense of believing in impossible dreams, was always mingled with a sense of practicality; with a sense of reality. He always kept his feet flat on the ground and yet his smile in his heart was soaring up in the air, up into the space. He would not allow the drudgery of reality to prevent him from dreaming dreams. Dreaming impossible dreams. And there is a lesson for us to learn, my dear brothers and sisters, because we are so discouraged. with the corruption, with the moral sins; with the corporate sins; with the social sins that are so prevalent. And yet , in spite of that, we must not give up hoping that things can be better. And as the Americans say, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. The best is yet to come. Cardinal Sin, the dreamer with Don Quixote. Cardinal Sin, the dreamer of impossible dreams.
The second book that was always on his table was The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis Why did he love it.? Because he was a man who treasured, who relished, believe me, who relished being alone. He may have been identified with the Cardinal of the rallies. He may have been identified with the parliament of the streets. But believe me, at close range I know, that whenever he had to go to those rallies, whenever he had to call people to go out to the streets and protest, it was always coming from that solitude experience with God. That is why you would understand that before he even called on the people to go to EDSA to protect Minister Enrile and General Ramos, he first asked me to call the three contemplative convents in Metro Manila, to expose the Blessed Sacrament, pray and fast. And when he was assured that the sisters were praying, that was the only time that he called on the people. A sense of solitude that is mingled with a sense of community. It was not a sense of solitude that was a recluse. It was not a solitude that was self serving. It was a solitude that sought God in his heart. And again, it is a lesson to be learned by all of us. We are men and women who love activity. We are men and women who love results. But we will never be able to get long lasting results, unless we become lovers of silence, lovers of solitude.
The third book, understandably on his table all the time, was the Liturgy of the Hours. For obvious reasons, because that is the prayer of us priests. Unknown to some of you, one of his eyes was already blind in the last years of his life. But even with great difficulty reading, he always made it a point to pray the Liturgy of the Hours, no matter what happened. And he intimated to me, “One day,” he said, “Soc I cannot kneel, I have arthritis. I think I should retire.” I said, “Well you don’t need knees to administer, you only need the brain.” But he said to me, “But if I cannot kneel and pray anymore for the people, what kind of a pastor have I become?” The breviary on his table was symbolic of the sense of the presence of God all the time. My dear brother priests, I can tell you that he only missed praying his Breviary on the day he died. He never missed a Mass everyday of his life as a priest. And he never missed praying the Liturgy of the Hours, not a day in his priestly life. He teaches us the lesson of loving presence, that we can never consider ourselves separated from the Lord, there is not one moment in our lives when God is absent.
Brothers and sisters, I remember. I remember Cardinal Sin the reader of books, the reader of men and women; the reader of events. Don Quixote de la Mancha and Cardinal Sin teach us a sense of wonder, a sense of awe, a sense of dreaming the impossible, and making the impossible come true. May Cardinal Sin and the Imitation of Christ teach us again the power of solitude. The power of being hidden. The power of being silent. Cardinal Sin and the Liturgy of the Hours , may they teach us the power of fidelity, the power of living the presence of God, no matter how uncomfortable , no matter how difficult and painful life maybe.
Cardinal Sin, I know in heaven, you pray for this community at the EDSA Shrine. In heaven, pray for us. Pray for us and make us dreamers like yo, even if dreams seem impossible to achieve. Pray for us to appreciate solitude, to appreciate silence; to look for moments of being hidden, and being in your presence all the time. As you were faithful to the Liturgy of the Hours, keep us faithful to our vocation, to treasure our vocation. With President Cory and Cardinal Sin and beloved Ninoy Aquino, may we dream our dreams, and make our impossible dreams come true.
