rizal’s moral legacies for our daily life

“RIZAL’S MORAL LEGACIES FOR OUR DAILY LIFE” (Chapter VII)……

Leading Virtues:Why we need to know Rizal’s Moral Legacies?Love of GodPurity and IdealismNoble ConductLove of Fellowmen

Love of ParentsCharityLove of CountryCourageWill-powerHonesty

Devotion to TruthSelf-SacrificeFortitudeSerenitySelf-ControlInitiativeTolerancePrudenceObedience

Courtesy and PolitenessThriftGratitudeLove for JusticeLiving by Example

Why we need to know Rizal’s Moral Legacies?

• The enduring greatness of Rizal lies in the richness of his ideas and the nobility of his examples. The validity of his progressive thoughts and soul-searching teachings is his legacy to humanity.

• Rizal's prophetic insights and matchless visions on how the Filipinos can travels the road to progress so that they can enjoy the fullness of nationhood ---- economically, politically, educationally, socially and culturally under the mantle of national solidarity --- are inspiring.

Love of God

• When he was studying in Madrid, Spain (1882-1885), Rizal assured his mother of his trust in God.

• When his sister Olympia died after childbirth upon his arrival in the Philippines from Europe in August, 1887, Rizal remarked: “I console myself saying that it was the will of God and what He does must be the best.”

Purity and Idealism

• “Pure and Spotless Must the Victim Be.” Another virtue of Rizal worth emulating was his insistence on purity of thoughts and clean behavior.

• Perfection in virtue is a condition of our union with God.

• In his famous El Filibusterismo, a Decalogue for the Political Redemption and Human Dignification of the Filipinos, Father Florentino softly pressed the challenge to perfection of character traits on the dying Simoun who used his ill-gotten wealth to destroy Philippine society in working woe, distorting justice and fomenting avarice.

Noble Conduct• “Do Good Always”• Purity of thoughts and clean behavior

require that religiousness be shown in “good conduct”, “clean conscience” and “upright thinking”.

• Rizal exhorted mothers to awaken the mind of the child and prepare it for every good desirable idea.

Love of Fellowmen• “Let Us Think Well of Our Fellowmen”.

Another great virtue of Rizal in conformity with what God desires was his love for his fellowmen.

• Love of neighbor to be sincere entails involvement in his behalf.

• Rizal’s thought on love our fellowmen are timely in these time.

Love of Parents• “I Beg My Beloved Parents to Always Bless

Their Son”

• Rizal’s great love for his parents was very admirable. His concern over their sacrifices and his thoughtfulness are worth initiating.

Charity• “I Feel Happy When I Can Give Joy to

Somebody”

• Charity is the greatest of all the virtues because it inclines us to love God above all things for His own sake, and our neighbors for the sake of God.

Love of Country• “My Dream Was My Country’s Prosperity”

• Dedication to one’s duty was an admirable virtue of Rizal. In saying that it is man’s duty to seek his own perfection, Rizal set an idea for man to attain. He elaborated on this idealism.

• Rizal dedicated his whole life in securing freedom for his country and happiness for his people, a devotion unparalleled in the history of his country.

• “My mission”, he told his former mentor at the Ateneo, Father Paula de Sanchez, “is to make men worthy”.

Courage• “If I’m to Be Condemned for Desiring the

Welfare of My Country, Condemn Me”

• Rizal’s courage in loving his country is a virtue that is very relevant today. His moral courage to do only the best for his people is worth imitating by our leaders.

• Rizal possessed the essential element of responsive leadership, that is attending to the needs of the people in order to keep their love and affection.

Will-Power• “Always with Our Gaze Fixed on Our

Country”• Rizal’s decisions to give his life for his

country demonstrated the perfection of his will to do the duty assigned to him by God. This was an admirable virtue considering that Spain had adopted a policy of implanting an inferiority complex on the Filipinos the better to govern them. Rizal did not accept the belief that his people were irredeemable.

• He had a clear vision of what to do to make his people happy and he exerted his best to accomplish this objective.

Honesty• “The Greatest Honor that a Son Can Pay to

His Parents Is Integrity and a Good Man”

• Integrity is uprightness or a state of being of sound moral principle. Rizal’s honesty was the result of his constant love and search for the truth. He possessed I to a high degree of excellence which everyone of us should imitate.

• Lest we forget, sincerity is a sign of humility, the virtue which makes us know the truth about ourselves, to accept the truth and live according to it.

• The basic element of humility is the acceptance that whatever we possess we owe to God who has planned a duty for us.

Devotion of Truth• “It is Not Good to Hide The Truth”

• Rizal’s constant search for truth in serving his country was an inspiring virtue that endeared him to his people. The is the same simple trait our people are looking from our leaders.

• Wanting to get at the cause of his people’s backwardness, Rizal made intensive studies and carried on extensive observations on the progress of nations.

Self-Sacrifice

• “My Ambition Is Not to Win Honors”• Another admirable virtue practice by Rizal

was abnegation or self-denial. Self-denial means giving up one’s desires for a better cause, as a working for welfare of one’s country. Self-denial implies self-sacrifice, love and humility.

• Rizal sincerely believed that he was not the only man capable leading his people.

Fortitude• “Do Not Fear that Some May Fall”• Fortitude or perseverance means strength

of mind in meeting or enduring pain, adversity or peril. Rizal practiced fortitude in serving his country.

• Fortitude in any undertaking requires faith and hope according to Rizal.

Serenity • “It is Necessary that there be Serenity of

Spirit”• A man is serene if he has an unruffled mind.

Serenity of spirit stems from strong personal discipline.

• Rizal related a conversation between a school teacher and Crisostomo Ibarra wanted to know the problems of learning and teaching. When asked by Ibarra about his problems, the teacher spoke against corporal punishment inflicted on the pupils.

• Rizal’s regard for tranquility of spirit, physical and moral repose and willingness is never more timely than today.

Self-Control• “I Have Deprived Myself or Many Pleasure”• What is self control?

• How did Rizal Practice self-control?

• When a man can check his actions and feelings, he has self-control. The will acts only in seeking what is good, depending on the intellect for its data. This is the reason why we must take great care in presenting only good ideas to the will.

• Rizal showed much self control his lifetime. Two important examples are worth recalling. During his students days in Madrid, he manifested self-control. Once he visited the house of the Paterno brothers (Antonio, Maximo and Pedro). They showed him their house and Rizal was thankful for their hospitality. When Pedro proposed that Rizal exhibit the pictures he had, he refused.

Initiative• “The Greatness of a Man IS in Guiding the

People in Its Forward Way”

• Initiative or self-direction is a person’s readiness to think a line of conduct and ability to carry it out on his own responsibility. Initiative is a virtue needed in the progress of society.

Tolerance• “One Must have a Deep Respect for every

Idea Sincerely Conceived”

• A person who respects the contrary opinions of another is tolerant.

• Tolerance is a virtue requiring sympathetic understanding of the differing opinions and honest mistakes of another. Tolerance challenges us to show the utmost patience and practice real charity.

Prudence• “For Reasons of Delicacy I have Suppressed

My Correspondence”

• Prudence is virtue that guides our mind in choosing the best means of accomplishing a thing. It directs us to the most polite and profitable course of action.

• It guides all other virtues because it points out the mean between excess and defect in the other virtues. If we do not practice prudence, we are liable to folly and excesses.

Obedience• “I Obeyed Parents”

• When a person does what he is told, he is obedient. Complying with that the authorities require of us is obedience.

• Obedience may call for a little sacrifice on our part of the good of the whole group. Rizal was a model of obedience.

Courtesy and Politeness• “I Want to be Polite and Nice”• Politeness and courtesy are virtues that give

harmony and charm in our daily life.

• Courtesy is graceful and considerate behavior toward others, It demand attention, politeness, refinement and affidability. Politeness is a quality of being well-bred.

Thrift• “I Economize”

• Thrift is virtue of being economical in the use of material, money, time and energy. Rizal practiced the habit of thrift when he was a student in Madrid, Spain he would have his shoes repaired instead buying new ones. Now and then he economized in food expenses.

• When Paterno brothers wanted him to join the Ateneo de Madrid, a cultural society, he turned down the suggestion saying, “I find the dues a little exorbitant.

Gratitude• “I Am Very Grateful”

• When a person shows gratefulness, he has grateful nature. “He that urges gratitude”, wrote Seneca, pleads the cause of both God and men, for without it we can neither be sociable nor religious.

• There is much greatness of mind in acknowledging a good turn, as in doing it.

Love for Justice• “Let Us Be Just”• Justice is the moral habit by which a man

gives to another what is his due. A man with a good conscience finds joy in being just.

• Rizal fought hard for justice not only for himself and his family but also for his people.

Living By Example

• “Gladly I Depart to Expose Myself to Danger to Confirm with My Example What I have Always Preached”

• Rizal’s examples on idealism, charity and surrender are inspiring. Events showing his love for country and people and dedication to duty are worth-while imitating.

• Instances in which he displayed courage, will-power, leadership and self abnegation are admirable. Events revealing his honesty, love and faith in God, love for fellowmen and love parents are shining virtues for everyone.