Jan. 23, 2015, 6:03 p.m. – SILENCE can be the most powerful gesture of
concern, love and sympathy.
This was the message of former UST Rector Fr. Rolando de la Rosa,
O.P. during the Holy Mass for the 87th anniversary of the Varsitarian
Thursday.
De la Rosa urged the staff of the University’s official student
publication to take time in realizing the value of silence in their work as
student journalists.
“The most beautiful piece of writing comes from a person’s sense
of honesty,” de la Rosa said in his homily at the St. Dominic Chapel of the Tan
Yan Kee Student Center. “Don’t always attempt to explain away a mystery by
trying to make a commentary about it,” he said.
De la Rosa, a former Varsitarian Witness (Religion) section
editor, echoed one of the messages of Pope Francis to Filipinos, which is to
know when to remain silent and to weep for others. Language, he added, is never
enough to capture one’s deepest thoughts and sentiments.
“The most important attitude that we have to reality and life is
reverence. And the best way to show reverence is by being silent,” de la Rosa
said.
Founded in 1928, the Varsitarian is the main chronicler of Asia’s
oldest and only Pontifical university, reporting on university-wide and
national concerns. It now the country’s oldest Catholic newspaper.
The Varsitarian was founded in 1928 by a group of students led by
Jose Villa Panganiban, who became the first director of the National Language
Institute.
Outstanding alumni of
the Varsitarian include Arsenio Lacson, Felix Bautista, Joe Burgos, Jullie
Yap-Daza, Rina Jimenez-David, Neal Cruz, Jake Macasaet, Francisco Tatad,
Antonio Lopez, Alice Colet-Villadolid, Ophelia Alcantara-Dimalanta, Cristina
Pantoja-Hidalgo, Norma Miraflor, Eric Gamalinda, Vim Nadera, and Eugenia Duran-Apostol;
and National Artists Cirilo Bautista, Bienvenido Lumbera, and F. Sionil
José, Roberto A. Vergara, Jr.
