Sec. Jesse Robredo, daghang salamat!

August 21, 1983, some 29 years ago, we Filipinos lost Ninoy Aquino, a dedicated Filipino who would have been our President. Ninoy and his wife Cory always reminded us that the Filipinos are worth dying for.

August 21, 2012, we lost Secretary Jesse Robredo, another committed public servant who would have been our next President too.

The nation is once again in grief, in pain, and experiencing the void left behind with the passing on of Sec. Jesse Robredo to the Lord. He, like Ninoy and Cory, are finally home with the Lord, forever.

Simple, hard-working, accessible and more, each tribute accorded affirms how much the Filipinos lost, now that Sec. Jesse is no longer with us.

Maraming maraming salamat po, Secretary Robredo, mabuhay kayo!

Lagi namin kayong kasama sa aming mga puso...

Now you are in the best hands of the Lord, rest in peace Sir, you have served the Lord and your love for God and our people will forever be a shining example for us all.

We also thank your family, Secretary Robredo, for sharing you with us all. May the Lord’s peace and care be with them too, especially during these very difficult period of not having you with them for meals, for reunions, for homework and all.

Allow me to share what comforted me after hearing a very emotional DOTC Secretary Roxas announce the painful news about the confirmed demise of Secretary Jesse. This August 21st reading of the 1997 edition of L.B. Cowman’s STREAMS IN THE DESERT, hopefully, may also provide you all much-needed comfort and peace through this period of deep grief and mourning.

“He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.” (Psalm 18:19 ).

Let us all be comforted that God welcomed Sec. Jesse to a spacious place.

According to the August 21 spiritual reading, “What is this spacious place? What can it be but God Himself – the infinite Being through whom all other beings find their source and their end of life? God is indeed a “spacious place.”  

“I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.” (Exodus 19:4)

And this beautiful poem that capped that August 21 reading:

“Fearing to launch on ‘full surrender’s tide’, I asked the Lord where would its waters glide. My little boat, “To Troubled seas I dread? Unto Myself, He said.”

“Weeping beside an open grave I stood, in bitterness of soul I cried to God: “Where leads this path of sorrow that I tread? Unto Myself, He said.”

“Striving for souls, I loved the work too well; then disappointments came; I could not tell the reason, till He said, “I am your all: Unto Myself, I call.”

“Watching my heroes – those I love the best- I saw them fail; they could not stand the test, even by this the Lord, through tears not few, Unto Himself me drew.”

“Unto Himself? No earthly tongue can tell the bliss I find, since in His heart I dwell; The things that charmed me once seem all as naught; Unto Himself I brought.”

Sec Jesse has been brought unto God. Having worked and labored so hard because of his love and service for God and for our people, God has called back Sec Jesse unto Himself, into His best care, into His eternal love, rest and peace.

Why so young, why call the good of this world earlier, so many have asked?

God’s Son, Jesus Christ, was 33 when God recalled Him “unto Himself.”

We mortals look at death as an end. But is it possible that God rewards the good, committed ones, even as they are young, by recalling them early enough for them to enjoy His eternal love and peace?

Difficult as it is to bid an earthly good-bye to Sec. Jesse, we see his smiling face beholding God’s face and being finally home with God, His Father.

Sec. Jesse’s blessed life remains a shining example of commitment and genuine service for all of us, especially for all politicians, to ponder on and to live by.

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