Beauty So Ancient and So New

There have been recent events that have made me realize the Beauty that is God. In his Confessions, St Augustine called God as “Beauty so ancient and so new”.

A week ago, the University of Santo Tomas (UST) concluded its year-long Quadricentennial Celebrations. Looking back from its early beginnings up to the present, I could see how UST has been a reflection and a bearer of God for the past 4 centuries. As Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Soc Villegas would put it in his homily during the Closing Mass in UST: “… our alma mater feeds us Jesus, clothes us with Jesus and teaches us Jesus.”
UST may have been that ancient, yet the beauty it exudes is always new, always fresh – thanks to the abiding presence of Jesus in her.

It may be tempting to rest on one’s laurels, to be complacent, or worse to be falsely proud. A renowned theologian and professor once had a vision of Christ on the Cross and was asked by Our Lord what reward he wanted for all he had done and written. He answered, "Non nisi te, Domine"-only you, Lord. That guy was St Thomas Aquinas, UST’s Patron Saint. If the University remains humble, always seeks the Lord, and always at His service then no amount of calamity or bad publicity can bring it down. It is built on solid ground.

I’m touched that the good archbishop did not only mention UST’s renowned alumni, but also the unsung Thomasians who in their own small way share Jesus with others as well as those “ out there in the dark alleys, inside jails and prisons, in cramped government hospital wards, in unnamed graves in public cemeteries…sons and daughters of UST who did not succeed, dropped out of the way and have faded away in shame and guilt.”

Moving on to the next century, I think UST should reach out to these people since, as the prelate said: “UST will never forget.”

Go USTe!


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Closer to home, a new member of the Samaniego-Albano Clan was born on Thursday 26 January 2011: Stella Gianna, Gio(my brother) and Marcia’s first daughter.

Every new-born baby is a reminder of how gracious God is (Incidentally, the name Gianna is the feminine equivalent of Giovanni which in turn means “God is gracious”.) and how he entrusts to us mere mortals the precious gift of life. The birth of another human reveals to us the beauty of life, the beauty of its Author. From a parent’s perspective, a baby tells us a new story based on an old one, a sequel to the enduring love of God passed on from one generation to another.

Welcome to the family, Stella! Well done, Gio and Marcia!