THOMASIANS MUST emulate the fidelity and resiliency of the Thomasian martyrs to keep the fire of the virtues of faith, hope and love alive, the bishop emeritus of Cubao said during the Eucharistic celebration on the second day of the “ALAB 2026” retreat on Thursday, March 5.
Reflecting on the theological virtues seen in the Main Building’s Tria Haec, retired Cubao Bishop Honesto Ongtioco said that faith, hope and love represented by the statues are not merely ideas but “fire” that the 17 Thomasian martyrs kept burning “not in classrooms, but in prisons. Not in comfort, but in firmness in their faith.”
“[They] are not decorations. They are demands. Faith is not just correct doctrine. It is trust that shapes decisions. Hope is not optimism. It is the courage to act even when change is slow. Love is not sentiment. It is [a] concrete responsibility,” the prelate said.
The martyrs were administrators, professors and students of the University who gave their lives for their faith in Japan, Vietnam and Spain.
Ongtioco said the Thomasian martyrs’ trust in the Lord should motivate Thomasians to keep the flame burning in their hearts; in pursuit of true conversion and transformation.
“They were not powerful. They had no armies, no influence, but they were deeply rooted in their faith. When [they were] tested, they did not collapse because their roots were deep in God,” Ongtioco said in his homily at the Quadricentennial Pavilion.
Ongtioco also regarded religious educators who renewed their academic mandatum or license as “keepers of the flame.”
The academic mandate is a canonical acknowledgment by a bishop that an educator teaching a theological discipline at a Catholic university is teaching in full communion with the Church.
“In a world where truth is treated as relative, faith is seen as private, values are negotiable, your task is not merely to teach subjects. But to form persons, their minds, and hearts,” he added.
The second day of the Lenten retreat was marked by a talk on hope by Jaro Archbishop Midyphil Billones and a series of testimonies on vocation discernment revolving around religious and consecrated life, family and married life, and single blessedness. A.G.C. Mansineros
