Why perfect love comes from freedom

It was a homily that was a work of art by a scientist who also happens to be a priest, the president of the Ateneo de Manila University, no less. Fr. Jose Ramon  “Jett” T. Villarin, SJ, delivered the homily at the wedding Mass last June 26 that united JC de Leon and Denise Roco, an Ateneo alumna, at the picturesque Chapel on the Hill in Batangas. Denise was a radiant bride, almost an apparition, as she walked into the chapel to meet JC, her love of seven years now, her parents Ramon and Angelina Roco and son Javier by her side. The glass-walled chapel overlooking Taal Lake and the rolling hills of Batulao seemed like the center of the universe for the moment.

 Could anything have been more perfect, I thought. Could life always be as perfect as this wedding day on the hills?

 Father Jett, in his homily, said all this perfection comes from an imperfection: “Seasons arise out of the tilt of the planet and its not so perfectly circular orbit around the sun. This kind of obliquity, this slant is what gives rise to the seasons.

“Imagine for a moment what it would be like to have a physically perfect world, i.e. having a perfect circular ring of an orbit, a perfect sphere of an earth, turning without tilt, perfectly upright, and having a uniformly solid surface without the fluidity of water. Such a perfect world would be boring.”

Ergo, the priest-slash-scientist concludes: “In a way, you could say, the seasons of a planet or a person or even love seem to arise out of imperfection.”

Father Jett said JC and Denise, having known each other for seven years now, “are keenly aware of their imperfections and the seasonality of their love and affection.”

“Shall we then suppose that they will always be meant for each other, destined for one another? Can we now safely say that the stars are aligned, the orbits are set, the vows will be said, and that they will keep turning to each other in love and fidelity, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, for better or worse, come rain or sunshine, come what may? Will the motion of their love be as steady and consistent as the planets and stars?” Father Jett asked.

But! Though planets and stars do not spin off their orbit come what may, “these heavenly bodies do not mean their fidelity.”

“They do not mean their obedience. They may be spinning all the time but they are inanimate. There is no soul, no spirit to their motion, even if their motion is unswerving and aligned and in orbit.

“On the other hand, we human beings can always go astray and spin off on a tangent. We can lose our way despite the stars aligning and the vows being professed. We can mean to stay on course or we can mean not to. We can mean to be faithful or we can mean not to remain so.

“You see, the x-factor, the main determinant that gives rise to the seasons in our lives is not the oblique or the imperfect. If our lives have seasonality and meaning, it is because we are free. Freedom is this wonderful and fearful gift that allows us to mean what we say and mean what we do,” he stressed, sounding like both an astronomer and a gentle uncle.  “It is freedom that empowers us to mean who we are to become for each other.”

As love brimmed in JC and Denise’s eyes, Father Jett continued, “Love is not a matter of fate and the fortuitous configuration of the constellations. Love is a matter of freedom. When I profess my love and say, ‘I do,’ I am telling the world and my beloved, I am free. I can very well choose to love you only in times of good health and good fortune, only for the better and for the richer. I can decide to leave you when the storms come and the sky grows dark. But I choose not to leave you. Because I am free, I choose to love you through all the seasons of our lives, come what may.”

Just like Christ loved us and died for us, “when He could have very well walked on water the same day He was drenched in blood.”

Because we are free to love and to love not, love is a most wondrous thing, a perfect gift we can give to the one we choose.

Congratulations, JC and Denise!

Captivating night of music

First Pacific Leadership Academy, the premier corporate university in the country, chaired by esteemed businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan, celebrates its fifth anniversary with events that embody the influential power and enduring spirit of the academy and its chairman.

Pangilinan, aside from being a keen businessman and inspiring leader, is also an avid music enthusiast. What better way to kick off the months-long anniversary celebration than with a concert sure to inspire fellow music enthusiasts.

Trio concert, which will be held tomorrow, June 30, at the Meralco Theater, gathers the country’s most talented maestros — Rudolf Golez, Victor Coo and Coke Bolipata — to breathe life into the timeless pieces that have captivated audiences for generations. 

Rudolf Golez is an acclaimed Filipino piano prodigy whose calling for music came at the age of four. At 11, he performed for then first lady Imelda Marcos at the Coconut Palace, and later pursued his studies at The Juilliard School, University of the Philippines and Graz, Austria. In addition to being an acclaimed pianist, he also serves as the vice president for external and cultural affairs of Liceo de Cagayan University, and a teacher at the Philippine Women’s University and Cebu Normal University.

Victor Coo is an award-winning cellist who has been hailed as one of the great artists of his generation. Coming from a family of musicians, his passion for music was immediate and innate, and this can be seen, felt and heard in his powerful, emotional performances.

Coke Bolipata completes the talented triumvirate as the maestro violinist. After completing his studies at The Juilliard School and fulfilling his grant from the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington, DC and Artists Affiliates, Coke returned to the Philippines to establish his school for budding artists in Zambales called Casa San Miguel.

Together, these three virtuosos aim to enchant the audience with their music — a music that touches the heart and moves the spirit.

(For inquiries, e-mail Philip Iñigo Cañizares at [email protected] or call 0908-8854187 and 696-3051 loc 893.

For more information about FPLA and its upcoming programs and activities, visit www.fpacademy.net.) (You may e-mail me at  [email protected].)