Knowing Jose

Jose Rizal's signature by wiki.org

   There are questions we challenged ourselves, do we appreciate Rizal? Or we only recognize him as a Hero and a prominent writer? Honestly, if any would be asked about providing details about Rizal, some might suppose he's a womanizer, a liberalist, a hero, and a devoted son. Those were only his basic and known facts we perceived and discovered about him. To widen our knowledge about him and appreciate him more, these are three facts out of several facts about him that could be very helpful to know Rizal more:

1.   Jose Rizal is a sculptor. A man like him is a jack of all trades, a man who can do more. Well, except singing, I might say. Jose Rizal wasn’t just only good at one thing. Not only he’s good at literature and science, but he’s also good at arts, especially in sculpting. Jose Rizal showed the potentials of being a great sculptor ever since he was young. In fact, at age 14, he sculpted a 9-inch statuette of the sacred heart using wood and a penknife. The said statuette was said to be brought by the Jesuit fathers in Fort Santiago on the day of their visit to Rizal during his exile. The statuette wasn’t his only work as a sculptor in his lifetime; he also sculpted El Ermitano during his exile in Dapitan and other 40 masterpieces using conventional materials. His work, El Ermitano, has a back story; it has been said that it showed communication between him and his mentor, Fr. Pastells, in an attempt to win him back to the Catholic Church and his interpretations of St. Paul the Hermit.
2.  Jose Rizal told Paciano about his plan of going to Paris/Rome to observe other people’s customs and learn more languages such as Italian and French. During the night he was sleeping, he dreamt of himself as an actor dying in a scene with a shortened breath, a weakened strength, and nothing to see. It happened on the night of the 30th of December 1982. He woke up tired and breathless because of his exhausting dream. Rizal felt sad and recollected his terrible dream. Little did he know on the same date after 13 years, he would be executed.
3. Jose Rizal has been enthusiastic about the country and his family. On the night before his execution, he wrote his farewell message for his compatriots namely, “Mi Ultimo Adios”, which is untitled and unsigned but was named by Fr. Dacanay in 1898. Rizal stuffed some papers on his pocket, knowing his body will be delivered to his family yet, his body was disposed of by the officials. He also wrote his last wishes, which were about his burial on how he wanted to be treated after his death. Rizal wished to be buried in Paang Bundok with a fence and simple writing on his tombstone. On the day of his execution, there would be only one executioner who has a bullet in its riffle to ease their guilt. The Filipino executioners were assumed to know that Rizal was innocent but need to fire since soldiers are guarding them. His last words were Consummatum Est (It is finished), which is similar to the word of Jesus when he was crucified.

   Rizal isn’t just a hero just like how other Filipinos glorify him; he’s a man with a purpose. He goes all out to quietly attack the colonizers using his literary works. Admiring Rizal’s heroic acts without understanding his purpose is clearly showing empty nationalism and fraud devotion. Reading his works without realizing what it bears is rubbish. Because of his dedication, he was able to influence other Filipinos to fight against the colonizers; however, he doesn’t want to resort to pure violence.  According to him, pen is mightier than a sword. Being a prominent man, he was being looked up to by the Filipinos and presenting him as an example of what must a Filipino do for his country, to protect and nurture it genuinely.

   Rizal has hopes to the youth to defend the country in which he also wrote a piece of, entitled A La Juventud Filipina. A la Juventud Filipino was written to boost the youth’s esteem for the country. It has the purpose of motivating the Filipino youth to realize their potentials and free themselves from ignorance and fight for the future of the country by achieving freedom and human dignity. But in today’s generation, can we trust the youth? Every adults in the society are already questioning the credibility of the youth due to their reckless actions. What could be his reaction to today’s youth? 
Does “Ang Kabataan ang pag-asa ng Bayan” really applicable in any generation?

I do not write for this generation. I am writing for other ages. If this could read me, they would burn my books, the work of my whole life. On the other hand, the generation which interprets these writings will be an educated generation; they will understand me and say: 'Not all were asleep in the nighttime of our grandparents.'   -Jose Rizal

References:

Abs-cbnNEWS.com (2011). Jose Rizal was a sculptor, too. [Online] http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/lifestyle/07/06/11/jose-rizal-sculptor-too [Accessed 24 Nov. 2019].
Philstar.com, (2014). Rizal’s execution: Little known facts | Headlines, News, the Philippine Star | philstar.com. [Online] http://www.philstar.com:8080/headlines/643170/rizals-execution-little-known-facts [Accessed 24 Nov. 2019]
Filipiknow.(n.d). Jose Rizal Facts. Retrieved November 24, 2019, from https://filipiknow.net/jose-rizal-facts/