Are we worth dying for?

Binhi sang Pagtuo

August 24, 2009

Dear Centralians and Friends,

Greetings from the campus!

Last August 21, 2009, we celebrated Ninoy Aquino Day to commemorate his death and martyrdom for the Filipino people. One of the famous last words of Ninoy were “The Filipino is worth dying for.” He died for the cause of freedom and democracy. Although his death was just one of the many deaths during Martial Law, it became the rallying cry of the Filipinos to topple the dictator. Ninoy became an icon of the struggle of restoring democracy.

More than 2,000 ago, Jesus was also killed for a cause. He died not only for the Filipino people but for the whole humanity. Mark 10:45b says that Jesus came to “give his life as a ransom for all.” Jesus is our Lord and Savior.

Let me share with you a poem entitled “One Solitary Life.” The authorship is attributed to Dr. James Allen Francis, 1926.

“Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another obscure village, where he worked in a carpenter's shop until he was thirty. Then for three years he was an itinerant preacher.

He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family or owned a home. He never set foot inside a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place he was born. He did none of the things that usually accompany greatness.

While He was still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against him. His friends deserted him. He was turned over to his enemies, and went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. While he was dying, his executioners gambled for the only piece of property he had - his coat.

When he was dead, he was taken down and laid in a borrowed grave.

Nineteen centuries have come and gone, and today he is the central figure for much of the human race. All the armies that ever marched, and all the navies that ever sailed, and all the parliaments that ever sat, and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of people on this earth as powerfully as this One Solitary Life.”

As we reflect on the sacrificial death of Jesus, let us ask ourselves this question “Are we worth dying for?”

May God bless us all!

Sincerely,

Pastor Francis Neil G. Jalando-on
Assistant Chaplain