Pick ups on messages of Hope for the New 2005
The bottom line is that while the world is constantly changing, we are in charge. Our future is shaped by us-by our commitment or our indifference,
by our despair or our confidence. Is all this overwhelming? Not at all. Because it turns out that behind humanity's power to alter the course of
events are the timeless values that we learned in-kindergarten!
Quoted from Solita Collas-Monsod's keynote speech, titled "A World of Change, a
Constant World," which delivered last month in Berlin at the first international conference of Community Foundations.
http://news.inq7.net/opinion/index.php?index=2&story_id=22907&col=62
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The quest to build our country has grown ever more urgent in our time. It is no longer a question as in the 1970s, of whether we can catch up in science and technology though that remains an important quest. It is a question of whether we as a nation can survive and prosper. It is a question of whether we will focus on the signs of darkness and despair or we will focus on the signs of light and build hope.
In a homily I gave for the Simbang Gabi in 2002, I referred to part 2 of the “Lord of the Rings”, which I had just watched in a premiere and said: “In a scene in the battle for Helms Deep, a frightened young boy turns to the great warrior Aragorn, “The men say that it is hopeless and we will all be dead by nightfall.” Aragorn replies, “No, there is always hope.” In the scenes that follow he shows that hope is not a given, it is the courage of leaders and people and unexpected help from friends like the Elves that create hope. In the moment of despair, the Elves had to choose whether to stand by or to join and give hope. They made the choice of joining and giving hope.”
Choose to join and to give hope. Choose to care and to hope.
In the midst of your intense pursuit of career and success, remember your inner circle and give time to your family, your friends, your God.
Believe in the miracle of the loaves and fishes -- the seemingly little that you offer can help feed a multitude.
And yes, it will come back to you a hundredfold. For the wonder of gifts from the heart is that, as with the miracle of the loaves and the fishes, they are not diminished, but grow in the giving.
Speech CHOOSE TO CARE AND TO HOPE delivered by Fr. Bievenido Nebres at the DLSU Commencement Exercises October 9, 2004
http://gawadkalinga.org/gk_news/gk_news_view.php?id=0410-004
