Congratulations
to all the graduates of 2012! Now you
are ready to work and apply what you have learned in college. I advise you to have the attitude of
diligence in learning.
There
is this anecdote I have read in a book about a young man who, right after the
commencement exercises, rushed outside and shouted: “Here I am, world! I have my A. B.!” But then, he seemed to hear a voice ... the
voice of the world: “Sit down, son and I will teach you the rest of the
alphabet.” The commencement exercises
that we all have attended, for some, just about a month ago, for the others,
fairly recent and still some others, a long long time ago, is really just a
beginning of the learning process because formation never ends. Newton D. Baker says: “The man who graduates
today and stops learning tomorrow is uneducated the day after.”
When
you tell people that in order to climb that corporate ladder, it is imperative
that one possesses a well-rounded personality, they would agree with you. But while they agree, why is it that most
often, professional formation is not taken seriously, or worse, neglected? Why is it that people lose their study
discipline after graduation? I had a boss who was allergic to professional
seminars. When the concept of Continuing
Professional Education (CPE) was introduced in my profession, he told me: “What
they are doing is a racket. They just
want to earn money from us.” Under the
concept of CPE, one has to complete several hours of seminar credits before the
Professional Regulation Commission approves the renewal of a professional
license. The last time I heard about
this boss of mine was he was having a hard time renewing his CPA license.
Why
do we need professional formation anyway?
In anything we do, it is easier when we know and understand why we do
it. The other questions of what and how
necessarily follow. As E. G. Lettermen
says: “The man who knows how will always find a job but the man who knows why
will be the boss.” It is very simple and I’ll tell you why. Professional work is the hinge of one’s
sanctity. It is the raw material needed
to produce fruits of sanctity.
Therefore, we have to be good in our work... we have to be good in our
chosen profession. We cannot say “sorry”
all the time. To commit mistakes and say
“I’m sorry once in a while – that’s ok – but if you do that all the time, it is
a completely different story. We have to
work not only efficiently but also effectively.
And to be able to do this, we need to continuously learn all the time,
updating our knowledge in our chosen field.
Let
me end with this quotation from St. Josemaria in Friends of God: “We would therefore be on the wrong path if
we were to disregard temporal affairs, for Our Lord awaits us there as well. You can be sure that it is through the
circumstances of ordinary life, ordained or permitted by the infinite wisdom of
divine Providence, that we come close to God. But we shall not attain our goal
if we do not strive to finish our work well; if we do not sustain the effort we
put in when we began our work with human and supernatural zeal; if we do not
carry out our work as well as the best do and, if possible, even better than
the best. And I think that if you and I really want to, we will work better
than the best, because we will use all the honest human means as well as the
supernatural ones which are required in order to offer Our Lord a perfect job
of work, finished like filigree and pleasing in every way.”
