Homily: Capping and Pinning (Blessed John
Paul II College of Davao)
Allow me to
begin this homily with a very cute tale of a dog that has found its bone (Ang Iro nga nakakita ug usa ka bukog). There
was once a dog that found a bone of a certain animal lying on the ground. When the
dog tried to grab it, it moved away from him (nakahigot diay ug nylon ug gibira sa wala mailhi nga tawo). So the
dog chased it. The dog was barking while running to chase the bone. Another dog
heard the first dog bark and saw it running. So this second dog also barked and
ran after the first dog. A third dog did the same, and so a fourth, a fifth, a
sixth and in a matter of minutes, almost 20 dogs were barking and running after
the first dog. Among these 20 dogs, only the first dog knew why it was running and barking: it was
chasing the bone. The other dogs were just running and barking without
knowing why they are doing it!
My dear nursing
students, today you shall receive the pins and caps which symbolize the years of
toils and the efforts you have spent in studying here in our Alma Mater. Like
the dogs in our little story, we can say, you’ve been also “running” and “barking”
– chasing your dream to become
professional nurses. Perhaps, I don’t have to remind you of the importance
of knowing the reason why you are “running” and “barking” all these years. I hope
that you run and bark because you have
found your bone! When you have found your “bone” – your purpose in life,
your vocation, your mission – you go after it: chase it and never lose sight of
it!
A similar
thing takes place in the Gospel that we heard today (Cfr. Mt 13: 44-46). Jesus tells
us that the kingdom of heaven is also like finding a treasure hidden in a field
or finding the pearl of great price. The one who finds it would sell everything
he has and would buy that field or that pearl. When we find the meaning of our
existence, of all our life; when we discover the purpose and the direction of
our life, we would not mind the difficulties. We could afford to lose
everything for the sake of the treasure – the meaning of life that we found. The
pinning and capping has this symbolism: it
symbolizes that somehow you have found the direction of your life – that you
have discovered the purpose and the mission of your existence: to serve as a
nurse. May you never lose sight of this newly discovered treasure, this “pearl
of great price”.
But, my dear
friends, there is a risk in selling “everything” one has to buy the field of
hidden treasure, or the pearl of great price. What if after leaving everything,
after “selling” your every possession, you come back with your money, ready to
buy that field or that pearl, only to discover that the field or the pearl is
no longer available? What will you do?
If you notice
lately, there is a dramatic drop of those who are taking up nursing nowadays. The
demand for nurses locally and abroad has dramatically went down so that lots of
students would rather take up other courses. What is this? The “field of hidden
treasure”, the “pearl of great price”, has lost its value! You have sold
everything, you have risked everything (gibaligya
ang kabaw), only to find out that nursing
has become unpopular! What will you do? Persist in your dreams. Believe in your capacity. As our
theme states: “Persistence is easy when
you believe”.
My dear
students, yours is the time for purification of intentions. During the time
when the nursing course was the “in-thing”, thousands flocked to take up
nursing even though it was not yet very clear to them that their vocation or
mission in life was to serve the community as nurses. They took up nursing
simply because it was the in-thing. It
promised easy job and income. When you take up a course with this kind of
motive or any motive other than right one, then, you are just like those dogs
that run and bark without really knowing why they are doing so.
But now that
the nursing course has become less popular, and you are still here “running”
and “barking” to chase your dreams, receiving today your pins and caps, we
could say that you are really meant to
become nurses: that you understand very well how important it is to have the
right intention in choosing your career. You really have found your bone!
Now that you
have found your “bone”, do not lose it! Cling to it. Preserve it. Be good at
it. Be professional nurses: nurses who serve; nurses who care; nurses who do
their best in fulfilling their task with utmost professionalism; nurses who
offer to God every effort, every fatigue, every stress, every smile even if the
schedules are unbearable; nurses who try to convert their work and service into
prayer by offering them for the greater glory of God, as St. Ignatius taught
(whose feast we celebrate today). In a word, be professional nurses who know how to sanctify their work and
themselves through their profession by working with professionalism, sincerity,
loyalty and the right intention of glorifying God.
When you do
this, you will become intimate friends with God. And you will speak to God more
often in prayer, just like Moses in the First Reading (Cfr. Ex 34: 29-35), who
speaks with God with familiarity and intimacy as if he was just talking to a friend. When you pray often to
God, your face will also shine (like that of Moses) with joy and youthfulness. And
you will be able to give authentic smiles to your patients. And your patients
will encounter God, Jesus and Mary through you. All of these started simply with
the finding of your own “little bone” in
life.
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