Response – Words of Gratitude
College of the Holy Spirit Manila
100 OUTSTANDING ALUMNAE AWARDS
2 Feb 2013
Paraclete Auditorium, Mendiola
Sr. Eden Panganiban, Provincial Leader of the Missionary
Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit
Dr. Felina Co-Young, President of the College of the Holy
Spirit
Isabelita Sy- Palanca, President of the CHS Alumnae
Foundation
Ellen Young-Gomez, President of CHS North America Foundation
Sisters of the Holy Spirit, dear teachers, staff, manongs and
manangs, alumni, students, my co-awardees, guests, especially my sons Rafael
and Carlos, my daughter-in-law Edwina, and my grandsons Andres and Adrian,
ladies and gentlemen,
A very good afternoon to you all.
I am deeply honored and truly humbled to have been given this
wonderful opportunity to respond on behalf of my fellow awardees - all awesome, accomplished, and successful
ladies, many of whom I have looked up to as my role models. Truly Women of
Faith, Service, and Excellence.
First let me thank you, on behalf of all of us, for this
tremendous honor the School has bestowed upon us. We thank those who nominated
us for their generous spirit in considering us worthy of the recognition. We
thank the Awards Committee chaired by Celine Gamalinda-Borromeo, and members
Elizabeth Natividad-Ibuyan, Ma. Eliabeth-Oca, Ma. Roxane Mendoza-Belardo, Ma.
Elena Palenzuela-Meir, and Sr. Victricia Pascasio, SSpS. for bestowing upon us
this singular honor of having been chosen as one of the 100 Outstanding Alumnae
of the College of the Holy Spirit. It is an honor that has elicited an
avalanche of congratulatory messages from our family and friends. It is an
award that we will treasure forever. It is an honor that we hope will inspire
our younger alumnae and students to aspire for as they navigate the difficult
paths they must choose throughout their lives.
As I stand here before you, on this stage, in this
auditorium, I remember with great clarity my graduation day from college almost
50 years ago. I invite you all to hark back to that day in our lives - as we held our diploma in our hands, eager to
face the future, confident in the kind of education we received. We had passed
the tests of Germanic discipline, engaged in
intellectual discourse, prepared
to discuss and debate such things as the interplay of countries in the global
community, scientific discoveries, and the deeper meaning of poems that touched
our hearts. We were also steeped in the spiritual values that served as our
moral compass.
With that diploma in our hands, we felt we could conquer the
world.
As we heard of the wonderful achievements of our 100 Outstanding
Alumnae, it seems like we DID conquer
the worlds in which we decided to serve. Our 100 outstanding alumnae represent
an awe-inspiring community of individuals who have been recognized, not only by
our Alma Mater today, but by the institutions they have served. By the
excellent quality of their work, by their courage, by their commitment and
dedication, by their unselfish service, they have risen to the highest levels of government-
national, local, and even international; presided over board meetings in large
corporations; led NGOs in finding strategic solutions to the problems of
poverty; held top positions in colleges
and universities; carried the flag of the Philippines in foreign countries; served at the helm of religious orders; made their mark in
countries around the world. The intellectual power, the expertise and
experience, the passion, the dedication and commitment they have shown are the
best reason to celebrate the 100 years of the College of the Holy Spirit here
in Mendiola. They are the fruits of the dedication of the nuns, faculty, and
staff who labored in the vineyard of the College of the Holy Spirit.
Actually, however, there are many more hundreds, if not
thousands of outstanding CHSM alumni out there who have lived lives of
professionalism, excellence, integrity, dedication, and hard work. They are wives and mothers who gave totally
of themselves for their families, showering them with love and devotion. They
are government officials and employees who served our people well and kept
their integrity intact. They are teachers who opened the minds and hearts of
their students to the beauty of literature, the wonders of science, the joy of
sports, the exhilaration of finally understanding some of life’s mysteries.
They are nuns and lay workers who brought Christ to people and communities in
urban slums or in remote hinterlands around the world. They are scientists,
writers, artists, accountants, doctors, entrepreneurs - individuals who, in their own ways, by their
Spirit ablaze! have been role models to the all those whose lives they touched.
They should really be here with all of us. Each and every one
of them affirms the work of the College of the Holy Spirit. Each and every one of
them is the reason the Holy Spirit
guided those four intrepid nuns to travel across the world to establish a
school in Her name.
It was in these classrooms that we learned to use information
to develop knowledge and from knowledge to acquire wisdom. It was in this
campus that we forged enduring friendships with teachers and classmates who have
celebrated our successes but kept us down to earth, friendships that have helped
us through our personal challenges with quiet compassion. It was in this
auditorium that we learned to perform in plays, sing in choirs, compete in declamation
contests, work the lights and sounds, direct our classmates, and work together,
giving us confidence and honing our
skills. It was in the quiet and natural beauty
of the grotto that we sought the intervention of Mother Mary, and in the
silence of the chapel where we felt the power, the grace, and the protection of the Holy Spirit.
Indeed, what we dreamed as young students, what we have
achieved since our graduation, what we are today, we owe in large measure to the years we spent
in these hallowed halls. Our teachers demanded excellence, but had the patience
to work with us on our difficulties. Our nuns demanded strict discipline, but
could laugh with us at our teenage pranks. The manongs and manangs served us
with quiet dignity, teaching us the value of service to others. Through it all,
we learned the enduring values of Veritas in Caritate – truth in love – three words which sum up our CHS education.
Today, in grateful acknowledgment of the debt we owe our Alma
Mater, we pledge to continue learning, to continue striving for excellence in
everything we do, to continue seeking the truth and upholding the truth, to continue
maintaining the highest levels of integrity, and to continue offering fraternal
love and charity to all who need it. Today, in grateful acknowledgement of the
debt we owe our Alma Mater, we pledge to find ways to help her continue her
mission of offering quality education to all who need it. We offer our time,
our talent, and our treasure and will encourage all our alumni to do the same.
We know that the school still needs us as their partners in
helping her achieve our shared vision of an educational institution that can
offer quality education to all Filipinos. It is the Holy Spirit who has brought
us here, at this time, in this place. Let us keep praying to the Holy Spirit a
slightly revised prayer “ Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of thy faithful
and enkindle in US the fire of Thy love. Send forth Thy Spirit and WE shall be
created and WE shall renew the face of the earth.” Let us all pledge today - all of us, in the name of our 23,000 or so alumnae
- to be co-creators with the Holy Spirit
as together we strive to “renew the face of the earth” through our full and
unstinting support to the renewal and revitalization of the College of the Holy
Spirit which was established in Her honor. If we harness the talent,
experience, passion, and energy of all our alumnae, we can truly conquer the
world. Let us start with our Alma Mater.
May the Holy Spirit continue to guide us, inspire us, protect
us, and bless us all.
Spirit ablaze!
