A Proud Father’s Testimony

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By: Deacon Monching Baltazar

 

It is indeed graduation season as I see the faces of my kumpadres and friends flaunt their respective laurels of success ... their children.  And this year, I am blessed to be one of them.  Yes! Yes!  What else can a father say when his son graduates from a course that they love, having demonstrated so much perseverance and patience throughout the duration of his studies.  As I join him in walking down the red carpet during his graduation, “Oh my Juan” is all I can utter when he, in his white uniform, gives the graduation salute to his masters and mentors. 

 

My wife and I can’t explain our feelings at that moment, because we, too, were required to demonstrate considerable perseverance and patience.  Education really is an arm and a leg experience these days.  And yet our pride is totally focused toward young Enzo, newly graduated with his diploma in Marine Stewardship.  Reflecting on this course, perhaps ordinary to some, I see a bigger picture. 

 

It’s a cliché, to say the least, but stewardship is our calling.  We are all required to be good stewards of the things entrusted to us - especially our children.  It goes beyond the degree and diplomas.  The little things Enzo does like giving mano po's and opo's to his elders is assurance enough that we brought him up quite well.  And the foundation that has been built within him as he faces the real world is very crucial in this day and age.

 

So I guess we owe a debt of gratitude to the people who helped us mold his young mind: his teachers, as well as the schools where he studied.  For our children are much more than just laurels of our success; they are laurels of our stewardship.  Let each of we parents lift our heads up high and say, “Yes Lord, thank You for entrusting me with the life of my children, and thank You for believing in me also.”

 

 The journey has still far to go, but its joy will never be scaled down.

 

To all the parents...Gratulantur!