God gifted both communities of Iloilo Sta Maria school and parish with the person of Fr Joseph Haw or Fr Jhaw, for short. Most of the reflections I share are from our time together in Iloilo.
Like his namesake or tukayo, St Joseph, Jhaw shows himself to be a man of faith as described by Paul in the first reading. Jhaw is one of “those who follow the faith of Abraham,” one who “hopes against hope” for the good of carrying out whatever assignment given to him.
This faith and hope of Jhaw comes from his trust in God’s promises, something he learned from his share of joys, as well as sorrows, growing up with his family. I remember attending the funeral of his mother who met an untimely death when I was a regent here at Xavier. As God made a promise to David that David’s house and kingdom would endure and his throne would stand firm, accordingly, Jhaw has never doubted that God will bless his works to endure and stand firm.
Because Jhaw believes and trusts that God will abide and fruitfully provide, his faith and hope in God is also expressed by his faith and hope in God’s people as well. Thus, he is a walking paragon of goodwill, trust, and loyalty to people, easily able to work with and for them. Yes, Jhaw is a people person with such giftedness helping him not only to gain many friends through the years but also to bring out the best from those he works with for the Kingdom. As a good friend and Jesuit collaborator of Jhaw confided, “Mahihiya ka kung hindi ka maka-deliver or madi-disappoint mo siya.” This is because despite challenging his co-workers, he clearly shows his care and generosity for them. For instance, he showed great care for Fr Hart, his fellow community member in Iloilo, by personally attending to his daily breakfast needs as required by Fr Hart’s medically-limited diet.
As a people person, Jhaw brings people together to work for a good cause. He does so by employing among other talents his creative, innovative, and inventive cooking skills. Like the famous story of the origin of La Paz batchoy, Jhaw creates miracle dishes from scraps and leftovers in the kitchen. His uncanny ability to mix (timpla) ingredients into a winning dish translates or extrapolates well into mixing people and cooking up events for the community’s benefit. Whether at school or in the parish, he cooked for the faculty or parishioners, providing opportunities for meaningful and even spiritual conversation.
No wonder Jhaw is well-liked. People easily sense how he values and prioritizes people over technicalities or image. The same quality can be seen in his namesake, St Joseph. Although he rightly contemplated breaking his engagement upon learning of Mary’s pregnancy, he chose not to humiliate or punish Mary and instead went ahead with being husband to Mary and father to Jesus.
I was privileged to witness how Jhaw joyfully and humbly grew into his role as president of Ateneo de Iloilo, how he was affirmed by his experience, how it put him on an academic administrator’s path in his Jesuit journey, leading him to pursue his PhD in education. In spite of the power and prominence that came with the position he held, he never let it get into his head. Instead, he focused on his job, not its perks and privileges, remained simple and humble, and worked with his fellow collaborators…
Despite the shortness of our two-year period together in Iloilo, I am grateful for the experience because Jhaw’s let’s-make-it-work attitude made it easy for me. One particular moment I appreciate between us was when he bluntly but kindly confronted me about an unbecoming attitude I had to give up, despite his high tolerance and patience for others’ faults. So, don’t mistake him as a huggie-bear, peace-at-all-cost kind of a guy. When high-stakes truthfulness is threatened, he will point it out to you for your own good.
Dear Jhaw, if I were to relate your Xavier School experience to your namesake’s or tukayo’s Gospel narrative, I would see St Joseph’s betrothal or engagement to Mary as your installation as Xavier president. St Joseph’s dream where the angel tells him the truth about Mary would correspond to your final vows where God tells you the truth about sending you to Xavier. And where the angel assures St Joseph not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife would be equivalent to God prodding you by this auspicious event of final vows to “Never fear and take Xavier School as your beloved and keep her always in the home of your heart.”
Competence, Chinese-entrepreneur wisdom and willpower, Categorical Concern for people. Jhaw, let your God-given giftedness with those 3Cs continue to mark all your endeavors, as an expression of your faith and hope in Him. So that your works, especially here in Xavier School, will, like God’s promise to David, “Be made firm and endure always.”