Every month of December marks a historic sentiment for many Filipinos, in the Philippines or abroad, for a very sentimental reason that we commemorate the death and martyrdom of a Great Filipino ever produced by our country. As great as he was during his lifetime, as we commemorate his death, we cannot help ourselves but also celebrate the achievements of this Remarkable Man.
DR. JOSE P. RIZAL. Born on 19 June 1861 in Calamba, Laguna. Died on 30 December 1896 in Bagumbayan.
Who could ever imagine that a little town in Calamba would give the country and the world an innocent child destined to be a Great Man?
Much has been written about this Man that can occupy numerous shelves in a library. In fact, his letters and correspondence alone are already twenty-five volumes!
But as we glorify his achievements in life, we need to remember that underneath all his successes were his hardships, agonies, and sacrifices. We give utmost admiration to everything he has achieved in his 35 years of existence, but we shall never forget that most of these he laboured painstakingly with conscious and deliberate preparation, hard work, planning, and discipline.
Looking at this perspective, as migrants, we can empathise with him. As Filipinos who move to another land to find a better future, we make personal sacrifices, including our pride, career, family and friends, and even our romantic love.
These are not easy. Nowadays, if we talk about Filipinos abroad – we immediately see how successful, rich, and lucky we are. Some even get jealous of us. But they fail to see that we must bear many inner sacrifices and pain in our outer success and joy.
Like Rizal, he had sacrificed a lot, too.
On 20 June 1892 he wrote a “Letter to the Filipinos” with an instruction that it would be published after his death. Let him speak for himself as we read this excerpt from his letter:
“I have always loved my poor country and I am sure I shall love her until my last moment, should men prove unjust to me; my future, my life, my joys, I have sacrificed all for love of her. Be my fate what it may, I shall die blessing her and wishing her the dawn of her redemption.”
No doubt, as we examine and study his life, we can all agree that Rizal sacrificed many things. Yes, he sacrificed his future, life, and joy. He could have become richer with his profession as an ophthalmologist. He could have survived to an old age if he didn’t write his two novels. He could have enjoyed his life by travelling around the world, but he chose to go back to the Philippines.
All of these – he did with a deliberate and conscious decision. This conviction alone is enough for us to believe how great this Man is, which will be difficult to surpass.
As we once again remember Rizal’s life and death this December – may he continue to inspire all of us to live a deliberate, dedicated, meaningful, passionate life, whether we are in The Philippines or abroad.
With all the sacrifices we have made in our lives – how many of them can we attribute as sacrifices we have made for our love of our country and for humanity? This is a timely reflection we should ask ourselves as we remember our dear Jose Rizal. One day, we will perish, and we ask ourselves: “What have we sacrificed for our country?”
(Rado Gatchalian is a member of the Order of the Knights of Rizal. He is known in the Filipino community as “The FILOsopher.” “Filo” is the Australian slang for “Filipinos.)
