Monday, 16 Mars,
2015
Verse of the Day: «Ainsi donc,
comme des élus de Dieu, saints et bien-aimés, revêtez-vous d'entrailles de
miséricorde, de bonté, d'humilité, de douceur, de patience.» Colossiens 3.12
Quote of the Day: “All that was once weak can never
be absolutely strong [except Christ].”—Blaise Pascal
«Tout ce qui a été
faible ne peut jamais être absolument fort [sauf Jésus-Christ].»—Blaise Pascal
French Fun Fact:
More than 15,000 people were beheaded at the guillotine. (confessedtravelholic.com)
What’s Really
Happening Over Here:
Weather – Scattered
Clouds, Precip. 10%
Temperature – 46⁰F,
high of 59⁰
News – Jewish
store re-opens after Paris terror attack (thelocal.fr)
More News – http://www.eurosport.fr/
A Day In the Life:
Today I start my last undergrad class! It is absolutely
ridiculous how time flies…I just pray that I’m using it in a way that is
pleasing to Him. I’m 20, and I know that in the scheme of things I’m really
just getting started with this whole life thing (unless He plans to bring me
home sometime soon, which I’m cool with), but I feel so old already. My
greatest fear is wasting my life.
In the spirit of not wasting your life, I want to share a
quote by Howard Thurman that Eldridge shares towards the end of Wild at
Heart which really impacted me:
“Don’t ask yourself
what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that,
because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
I hope you know what that looks like for you. And I hope it
encourages you that you know have permission to do what you enjoy doing. If God
has designed us with a special purpose in mind, and has given each of us unique
desires and dreams, then it stands to reason that the only way you can waste
your life is by not pursuing those desires and dreams which must ultimately lead
to your purpose.
Graciano López
Jaena
“Graciano López Jaena (December 18, 1856 – January 20, 1896)
was a journalist, orator, revolutionary, and national hero from Iloilo, the
Philippines, who is well known for his newspaper, La Solidaridad.
Philippine historians regard López Jaena, along with Marcelo
H. del Pilar and José Rizal, as the triumvirate of Filipino propagandists. Of
these three ilustrados, López Jaena was the first to arrive in Spain and may
have begun the Propaganda Movement, which was a movement based in Spain that
Article on Graciano
López Jaena
 |
| Graciano López Jaena |
Here is his story:
His parents sent López Jaena to
Jaro to study at St. Vincent Ferrer Seminary which had been opened under the
administration of Governor General Carlos María de la Torre y Nava Cerrada.
While there, he served as a secretary to an uncle, Claudio López, who was the
honorary vice consul of Portugal in Iloilo. His ambition to become a physician
convinced his parents that this was the better course of action.
López Jaena sought enrollment at
the University of Santo Tomas but was denied admission because the required
Bachelor of Arts degree was not offered at the seminary in Jaro. Instead he was
appointed to the San Juan de Dios Hospital as an apprentice. Unfortunately, due
to financial problems, he dropped out and returned to Iloilo to practice
medicine.
During this period, his visits with
the poor began to stir feelings about the injustices that were common. At the
age of 18 he wrote the satirical story "Fray Botod" which depicted a
fat and lecherous priest. Botod’s false piety "always had the Virgin and
God on his lips no matter how unjust and underhanded his acts are." This
incurred the fury of the friars. Although the story was not published, a copy
circulated in Iloilo but the friars could not prove that López Jaena was the
author.
He got into trouble for refusing to
testify that certain prisoners died of natural causes when it was obvious that
they had died at the hands of the mayor of Pototan. López Jaena continued to
agitate for justice and finally went to Spain when threats were made on his
life. López Jaena sailed for Spain in 1879. There he became a leading writer
and speaker for Philippine reform.
López Jaena pursued his medical
studies at the University of Valencia but did not finish. Once Rizal reproached
Lopéz Jaena for not finishing his medical studies. Graciano replied, "On
the shoulders of slaves should not rest a doctor's cape." Rizal
countermanded, "The shoulders do not honor the doctor's cape, but the
doctor's cape honors the shoulders."
He then moved to the field of
journalism. Losing interest in politics and academic life, he soon enjoyed his
life in Barcelona and Madrid. However, his friends forgave him these
indiscretions due to his talent with words. Mariano Ponce who was another of
the Filipino propagandists in Spain observed, "... a deafening ovation
followed the close of the peroration, the ladies waved their kerchiefs wildly,
and the men applauded frantically as they stood up from their seats in order to
embrace the speaker." Rizal noted, "His great love is politics and
literature. I do not know for sure whether he loves politics in order to
deliver speeches or he loves literature to be a politician."
In addition he is remembered for
his literary contributions to the propaganda movement. López Jaena founded the
fortnightly newspaper, La Solidaridad. When the publication office moved from
Barcelona to Madrid, the editorship was succeeded to Marcelo H. del Pilar. His
talent can be seen in the publication Discursos y Artículos Varios (Speeches
and Various Articles).
López Jaena died of tuberculosis on
January 20, 1896, eleven months short of his 40th birthday. The following day
he was buried in an unmarked grave at the Cementerio del Sub-Oeste of
Barcelona. He died in poverty.
His death was followed by Marcelo
H. del Pilar's on July 4 and on December 30 by José Rizal's by firing squad,
thus ending the great triumvirate of propagandists. His remains have not been
brought back to the Philippines.
(The above indented information is
a direct quote from the Wikipedia.com article on Graciano
López Jaena.)
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