Faith, Hope and Charity. But the greatest of these is
Charity.
Very Worshipful Sirs, Worshipful Sirs, our honorable guest speaker who will be properly introduced later, brethren, sisters of the Amaranth and the Eastern Star, DeMolays, Jobs and Rainbows, friends of Masons, Ladies and Gentlemen, Good Evening!
First and foremost, let me thank my brethren of Iligan
Lodge No. 207 for putting their trust and confidence in me. It is in these two words that I anchor my
term in serving you, all of you. My gratitude
also goes to all the brethren who are here present and those others, who wished
to be here but due to some unavoidable circumstances, cannot. Your presence means a lot to me, especially
those who wish me well in my continuing journey in this time honored
fraternity.
I will not say that there is nothing that I can ask of
you…on the contrary, there are many.
Much has to be done not just in our lodge but outside of the confines of
the four corners of our lodge.
For my term, I have chosen the theme to inspire me in
our journey, “Fellowship and Charity is equal to Harmony, the Strength and
Support of our Lodge!”
When I said that I will anchor my term in the two
words, “Trust” and “Confidence”, it means that to attain Harmony, your trust
and confidence in me and to the set of officers for this Masonic year really
counts a lot. I feel that it is not
enough that you elect your officers and just wait if ever somebody will join in
different activities initiated, but rather join in our lodge activities because
of our love for our craft and to the lodge to where we belong.
Various reasons enter my mind when we say success of
the lodge depends on the Master. On the contrary, success of the lodge will
definitely depend on the participation of all members. I, as all Worshipful Masters ahead of me will
promise to lead the lodge to a path of success and righteousness, but in
reality, success of the lodge no matter what activity is lined-up will depend
on each of us on how we participate and make our presence felt.
We have just a while ago turned over the reins of
leadership to a new team. Brethren, we
are the team. With pride we have always
said that Iligan Lodge No. 207 has always been at the helm of leadership in the
entire district. I am not after the honor
of being the best master, but I am after the slogan of our lodge, that always –
Harmony is the strength of our Lodge…as proven by all masons and all lodges the
world over since time immemorial that “Harmony is the strength and support of
all societies, especially of ours. “
I therefore call upon all to rally not behind my
leadership but behind our worshipful lodge, behind this time honored
institution, behind our commitment to ourselves when we took the solemn
obligation, when we made the vow at the preparation room, that we seriously
declared…uninfluenced by mercenary motives, a sincere wish to be serviceable to
your fellow creatures, etc., to work in harmony with everyone in and outside
our lodge.
My wish then is for us to be happy, contented of all our
work. And with your trust and
confidence, with your belief that our aim is but to be happy with what we are,
who we are, where we are, to help others within our capability without
expecting any compensation or reward in return, then finally we can face the
world and say “I have become a better man because I am a Master Mason.”
My heartfelt thanks to my wife Binky, to all the
better halves of our lives, our beloved partners, for giving their support in
all our activities and of course, to our ever dependable Eddie DGM Empleo and
his family for being there always.
Also my sincerest thanks to our guest speaker for
granting us a portion of his valuable time, for making the journey to this
memorable place and event, my uncle, Bro. Florencio “Bem” G. Noel of Makabugwas
Lodge No. 47 of Tacloban City, to our installing team headed by WB RL, our
installing officer, who came all the way from the other side of the world, VW
Genesis Calit, our master of ceremony and to VW Fem Calio, our assistant MC. To my forever boss, VW Henry C. Dy, to
everyone who extended their assistance to me, you all know who you are…as they
wouldn’t like their names to be mentioned.
To everyone, thank you. And hope
to see you during our stated meetings every 3rd Saturday of the
month at 5 o’clock in the afternoon.
And finally in closing, let me end my speech with the
ultimate gratitude and humility to the Great Architect of the Universe for
blessing me with brothers who believes in the beauty of the craft, the beauty
of brotherly love, the beauty of extending relief, and the beauty of knowing
the truth.
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