Valedictory Address of Michael A. Casas

VALEDICTORY ADDRESS
Ateneo de Davao University Commencement Exercises March 20, 2010

By Michael A. Casas
BS Chemistry, Magna cum Laude
Valedictorian and Leadership Awardee

Rev. Fr. Antonio S. Samson of the Society of Jesus, President of the Ateneo de Davao University; Rev. Fr. Jose Cecilio Magadia of the Society of Jesus, Provincial Superior of the Jesuits in the Philippines; Mr. Paul Dominguez, Chairman of the Board of Trustees; members of the Jesuit community in Davao City, honored guests, university administrators, faculty and staff, our dearest parents, friends, the members of the graduating class of 2010, ladies and gentlemen, a pleasant and wonderful morning to everyone.

On this very day, the graduating class of 2010 gratefully and humbly faces our mentors, friends and beloved parents as we end the 4, 5 or more years toward obtaining our respective college degrees. We are basking in the glow of boundless idealism as we try to review and look back at the memorable and life-changing experiences that led us to arrive at this level of maturity in our relatively young lives. But, my dear fellow graduates, after this very day, after the last applause has been heard, we are mindful that we are yet to continue our quest towards greater self-knowledge and understanding of the world in the biggest university we call LIFE. This realization isn’t new, of course, but it is accompanied by a far greater appreciation of the fundamental values –the necessary essentials –which carried us through this momentous occasion, something which millions of our unfortunate young people can only dream of.

Having said that, we rightfully acknowledge and express our deepest appreciation for the privilege accorded to us being molded according to the philosophy of Jesuit education. It is precisely in this context that we ask where and how to situate ourselves amidst a much bigger world that awaits us, a world that welcomes our collective aspiration enough to change it, transform it, and make us believe that it is our turn now, this time, to contribute towards rebuilding our nation.

As we labored through college life, we lived through the experience knowing that our Jesuit education brings with it a worldview that sees that goodness of the world through the eyes of a loving Creator. We lived out these experiences of fostering a truly holistic, liberating, and altruistic view of education in whatever way possible. After each learning endeavor, whether in the discursive climate of the classrooms or in the sea of poverty that typifies our immersion and exposure areas, we seek the values that we acquire in these experiences and learn to reflect on them to see their implications and contributions to the human person and eventually to society at large. In what we have come to understand as the one crucial principle of Jesuit education, we have imbibed the principle of faith and justice as an overarching theme of the Catholic social teaching on preferential option for the poor. Eventually, we know and understand through so many formative learning experiences that Jesuit education seeks to be interdisciplinary for it attempts to integrate different forms of knowledge as an approach to living life.

Much has been written, by and among Jesuits themselves, about our mode of proceeding as a Jesuit academic institution. Let me attempt to summarize some of these ideals by way of highlighting the important points: that the reason why we are celebrating today –our graduation –far more transcends the goals of monetary reward, popularity, and success; that it is essentially all about having the heart, the will, and the character to address the social cancer in our society and the greater world that awaits us; that we have the desire and the political will to really take a serious look at poverty and conflict in all forms and truly work in finding the appropriate solutions to break these disempowering cycles of violence; that we believe in a cause far greater than ourselves by seeking ways to end all manners of discriminations, as we learn to share our faith with others in total act of charity, and ultimately, in working for an equitable distribution of the world’s resources and our patrimony.

And so, my fellow graduates, the essence and goal of Jesuit education poses a challenge to all of us who have benefited largely from this framework of formation. As bearers of this educational legacy, particularly at this point in our nation’s history, what do we expect of ourselves? Ultimately, in the presence of our mentors and parents who celebrate with us this morning, we ask ourselves what does our dear Alma Mater truly expect of us? How then must we respond and what is the scale of our response? How must we seize the opportunity to make a difference in our nation’s history?

Frederick Buechner offers this reflection, and I quote, “The place God calls you to, is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet.” Unquote. In Philippine society today, we are called to identify a form of that particular hunger that Buechner proverbially speaks of through our collective and unified movement in working for the promotion of justice. For one, we are invited to look at the adverse effects of climate change as a hunger that should be responded to. Further research, but more importantly changing our ways of dealing with our environment, should be done to seriously respond to this call. On another scale of hunger, we have a government whose entanglements in a lot of scandals and unsavory decisions including, among others, the prevalence of warlordism in our political arena, the culture of corruption and the self-serving desires of some officials to perpetually remain in power, have caused serious dissatisfaction among us, eventually questioning the legitimacy and moral ascendancy of some of our government officials and the institutions they represent. And to top it all, the usual political circus that somehow characterized our national and local elections, which, I am sure, some of our senior voters have grown tired and weary of. But more than seeing the usual fare in our electoral process, this crucial first-ever automated election is also a venue of addressing that hunger, that hunger for a clean, honest and orderly conduct of elections, a rallying cry so old and yet so new that it awakens a new sense of awareness particularly among the young.

With these observations, we ultimately find our deepest desires to know the extent of our calling and the scale of our response by first and foremost understanding ourselves. It is a process so crucial that it lays the foundation to understanding LIFE in the grand scheme of things. By knowing who we are, it allows us to discover our place in this world as we eventually assume the position of leadership in society. By way of an example, we can perhaps identify groups and individuals who responded to the hungers of society by listening to their inner calling. For instance, the scientists who actively take part in materializing researches to help address the grave effects of climate change is their response to humanity’s hunger in making this world a far better place to live. The much-loved and respected late President Cory Aquino articulated, to the last draw of her breath, her hunger that all Filipinos unite as one people and pray together as one wounded nation ready to rise again.

In like manner, we are called towards discerning how to go about making a difference in the lives of people by anchoring our life’s sets of values on the essential things. Time and again, experience tells us that this is often difficult perhaps because it challenges us to go inwards. Meaning, that before we can speak of change as a new paradigm, before we see the dignity and self-worth in others being similar to our own, and before we put our lives on the stake in order to dream of a bigger good in the name of heroic and loving service, we need to look within ourselves and listen to the inner calling of God within us.

To my fellow graduates, my fellow Ateneans, I speak from the bottom of my heart when I say that it is such a privilege to speak on your behalf this morning, to carry our voice as members of the graduating class of 2010. And, by your leave, allow me to verbalize these parting words: that we hold on to that imaginative mind; that we keep our expectations low but set our standards high; that we maintain that attitude of humility; that we become a person for others; that we live life to the fullest; that we become the change that we want to see in the world; that we strive to know our purpose in life; that we become a good example to others; that we do ordinary things with love; that we enrich our faith in God; that we love our calling with passion; that we take the risk; that we learn to let go; that we remain still and know that He is God; and most of all, that we never give up, never give up and never ever give up.

Thank you everyone and to God be the glory!

*from: http://www.addu.edu.ph/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=753&Itemid=210

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam!

Michael Casas