Leenard Mabasa Cristobal's Funeral Homily

 

Death is certain. No one among us can stop it when it comes. Not even our love for Leenard can stop his death. Neither our words of sympathy nor apology can equal what the family and friends have lost. But Leenard’s name should not be treated lightly by anybody. Though anyone can take his place in this world, he is irreplaceable in the hearts of the people who love him.

Leenard for me is like BDO, he finds ways. In many occasions, Leenard would actively look for ways to help others in need. I remember when someone got an accident, he got out of his way to owe some amount needed for the surgery. He swallowed his pride just to raise fund to save someone’s life.

Leenard for me is like a Nike, if he knows he can do the things assigned to him –“just do it” is his attitude. Many people and even some priests thought before that I was the ghost writer of my mother and my brothers in preparing their speeches. Today, I can say that it was actually Leenard. Even my mother who was good in writing, would ask Leenard to encode her speeches and proofread them. There was a time I criticized him for one of the speeches delivered by my brother, he checked his notes and showed me to point out that part of speech I was talking about. Then I said why I could not find it there. He then justified that the speech he prepared for was just a guide. The speaker could choose either to read it or not to read it.  

Leenard for me is like Shell that bears a slogan, “together anything is possible”. Though this is something private and sensitive but it is good that you become aware of it. In a political exercise, I would say Leenard made the impossible possible. There were voters who would never vote for my brothers, for whatever reasons, yet through Leenard’s effort, it turned out that he was able to convince some of them to vote for my siblings. I learned about this from those people themselves whom Leenard approached.

Leenard for me is also like Petron which bears a slogan, “we fuel success”. At his age and wisdom, he reached the height of his career whether in business or in public service. His success did not come by chance. He worked patiently for it. He earned it. Unknowingly, while success can provide happiness, success can be vulnerable to negative influences, such as envy, competition or evil eyes.

One of my friends from Ibajay said, “Sayang yong kaibigan mo pads, bata pa siya para pumanaw at yong iniwan niyang posisyon sa Human Resource, sayang.” Yes, for many, Leenard was successful at his very young age; but at his age, people forgot he was vulnerable. Between the ages of 40 and 60, there is a transition, there is an emotional change, there can also be the feeling of inadequacy that takes place in one’s heart -especially when others can see all the failures, errors and mistakes but none of the efforts to achieve a goal. In short, the longer you hold success, the heavier it becomes. And when others pushed you beyond your limits while holding a heavier load, and in addition, you are at your fragile, delicate and vulnerable age -you will be broken. Once broken, every expectation will bring you frustration. This is the moment when a person becomes vulnerable in the sense that we can say, he is not himself. This is the reason why we have to be kind to everyone because we never know what someone has been through.

Now, I ask, “Why Lord? Why he was taken too soon?” For me, I wish to say to the Lord that Leenard had so much to give, so much to achieve. But this is only “for me” -my own point of view as an imperfect human being. But how about God? How about His point of view?

My dear friends, God does not measure life by years but by love. The Book of Wisdom (4:7,11) explains how God’s love works as it states:

“But the righteous one, though he die early, shall be at rest. The one who pleased God was loved, living among sinners, was transported -Snatched away, lest wickedness pervert his mind or deceit beguile his soul.”

To the family, be thankful to God in sending Leenard back to his Creator. You have shaped his heart well enough to receive his reward in heaven. To his relatives and friends, let us not consider the death of Leenard as the end of his life. Rather, let us see his death as a promotion from the hard works of this world to a final rest in heaven. To all of us, let us know that even death itself cannot make us blind to see the love of God. No title, no salary, no success is more precious than the soul of Leenard. The soul of Leenard is now in the hand of God and no torment will ever touch him. He now finally rests in peace. Amen.