Inaugural address

Media

Part of The Cabletow

Title: Inaugural address
Creator: Guiani, Guinaid M.
Language: English
Year: 1967
Rights
Abstract: The following is the speech of Brother Guinaid M. Guiani after his installation in a public ceremony on January 14, 1967 at Rio Vista Hotel, Cotabato City.
Fulltext: From Kutang Bato #110. . . • Inaugural Address WB Guinaid M. Guiani, WM • The following is the speech of Brother Guinaid M. Guiani after his installation i>i a public ceremony on January 14, 1967 at Rio Vista Hotel, Cotabato City. The Free and Accepted Masons in this jurisdiction through me, extend to all of you our sincerest welcome and thanks for attending this instal lation of the officers of Kutang Bato Lodge No 110 for the Masonic Year 1967. Your presence here tonight is proof that the Masonic efforts of promoting by actual practice, the bro therhood of men and the fatherhood of God as a way to world under standing and peace is gaining momen tum. Altho Masonry is not a religion, but a fraternity of God-loving, reli gious men dedicated to the promotion of fraternal love, the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the Philippines thru its Grand Master, Most Worshipful Raymond E. Wilmarth directed all Masons to take the initiative in extending the hand of brotherhood to all non-Masons. With us Masons in this jurisdiction, this was realized when Grand Knight Simeon F. Millan of the Cotabato City Knights of Columbus extended a fraternal hand by being the Guest Speaker of the Masons in the South ern Hotel at their annual celebration of Rizal Day on December 30, 1966. May our being together tonight, be the beginning of a genuine unders tanding among the Masons and the non-Masons in this jurisdiction. Henceforth, we shall always look for ward to any invitation from the Knights of Columbus and the civic and fraternal organizations to join them in their endeavors for the public weal. We assure them of our sin cerity in the promotion and preser vation of peace and understanding for which all other Masons have fought who have gone this way before—the peace desired by their Holiness, the late Pope John XXIII and Pope Paul VI. To my brethren, who elevated me to the EAST to occupy the Oriental chair, by electing me Master of Kutang Bato Lodge No. 110, I sb<dl not thank them, for as Masons, I feel that our hearts rejoice together in unison. My feeling of elation is equally theirs and that cur minds are focused on the same goal—that of keeping the light of Masonry aglow and brighter with the passing of the years. I owe them a debt which I can repay only by living up to their Masonic expec tations of me. Whatever honor or success may fall on me as a Mason are their’s who fostered me into this venerable fraternity. But I shall be remiss in my duties as a Mason, if I fail to note and make mention here the stouthearted brother Masons, who despite physical hard ships due to age and other factors, came to attend this installation cere monies. They are, to us younger Masons, the beacon lights, and ins pirations in carrying on the noble and ancient tenets and principles of the fraternity. WB Juan A. Sarenas, WB Marcelo Domingo, Sr., WB Casimiro Pasco, Bro. Jose Narajos, Sr. and Brn. Wong Sam. we salute votl Tu-n to pago 34 18 The Cabletow INAUGURAL ADDRESS . . . From pago 18 Freemasonry as a progressive mo ral science is learned only by degrees. Advancement into its mysteries is purely and absolutely by merit. In our Lodge of Free and Accepted Ma sons, there was a time when WB Leonardo de Guzman, Chief of the Cotabato Hospital, had to salute and address WB Anacleto Badoy, his sub ordinate in the hospital, “WOR SHIPFUL MASTER”. Masonic re cords show that at one time, US Pre sident Theodore Roosevelt’s gardener, thru sheer merit became master of their lodge, and had to be salutted and addressed bv Bro. Roosevelt, “WOR SHIPFUL’MASTER”. This is so, because in Masonry, the word MAS TER means harmony. It is love. The master of all Masonic lodges is the rallying figure for unity and love among the brothers. Slave, the coun terpart of Master, is unkown and abhored among Masons everywhere, because, Masons: FIRST — Adhere to one God, SECOND — Accept the brother hood of all men. THIRD — Accept the Holy Book as their light, the rule and guide of their faith, their conduct and behaviour. FOURTH — Accept and believe in the immortality of men. FIFTH — Make prayer a personal communion of men with God, as an asset in the attainment of worthy plans. SIXTH — Recognize religious and political freedom. SEVENTH — Make love of men second to love of God, their first dutv. EIGHTH — Teach Charity and be nevolence. NINTH — Suport established gov ernment. TENTH — Promote and maintain universal peace and freedom. So it is that Free and Accepted Masons are not strangers to the his tory of our world. Since earliest time, Free and Accepted Masons provided within their Lodges convenient places for the meeting of dedicated men in terested not only in the welfare of themselves, but also the welfare of all mem. No one can become a Free and Accepted Mason who does not ac knowledge a belief in God and a future life. To us Free and Accepted Masons, God is the Great Architect of the Universe by whose hand the design of this world has been accomplished and through whose will and pleasure his plans are manifested. In every nation on this earth have been freedom fighters, who fought to free the oppressed from their oppres sors. In ancient times, there was the oppression of the serfs by the overlords. Thereafter, various forms of political and religious tyranny followed which demanded freedom fighters to shake-off these shackles of oppression and tyranny. Most, if not all of them were Masons. Nearly all who signed the Declaration of Independence of the United States on July 4, 1776 were Free and Accepted Masons. George Washington, father of his country, who led the United States Revolutionary Army to victory was an ardent Mason, and many of his gen erals, among whom, a Frenchman, Marquis de Lafayette, were Masons. Simon de Bolivar, father of his coun try, Bolivia, was a Mason. Guissippe Garibaldi of Italy, who was banished for his Masonic beliefs, only to return to Italy to unify his country, was a Mason. Jose Marti of Cuba, who like Bro. Jose Rizal was shot and killed for his Masonic beliefs of fra ternity, eoualitv and liberty, was a Mason. General Douglas MacArthur, Turn to pag* 31 20 The Cabletow Letter to the Editor . . . THE GRAND LODGE OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL OF AN CIENT FREE AND AC CEPTED MASONS P. 0. B. 2080, Tel. Aviv, Israel April 7, 19G7 The Cabletow, Grand Lodge of the Philippines. 1440 San Marcelino, Dear Brethren, May I take the opportunity of saying how very much we enjoy reading your bulletin, “The Cabletow”, both facts masonic as well as informative content. I would like to draw your attention to the November 1966 No. 11, specifi cally the article “Masonry in Asia”. The art.cle numbers the Grand Lodges in Asia, rightly stressing the univer sality of Freemasonry in this Great Continent. However, somehow the writ er overlooked our Grand Lodge and we too are in Asia. For the sake of the record, our Grand Lodge was erected and consecrated by the Grand Lodge of Scotland in the year 1953 and to day numbers 57 Lodges which work in the following languages. Hebrew — the language of our Grand Lodge. English, Arabic, French, German and Rumanian. We are also proud that in our Jurisdiction, Bi n. of all creeds Jew, Gentile, Arab are to be found in the Lodges. Further, in Lodges where Brn. (or initiates) are of different Faiths the holy Books of the 3 great faiths — Old Testament, New Testa ment and the Koran are to be found on our altars. I have mad-; the nbovc comment mere ly to round off the information in your above article. Should you be :nterested in any other information, Please do not hesi tate to ask. Sincerely and fraternally yours, (Sgd.) J. BAR-N’ER Grand Secretary to humanity, MW O’Brien will be remembered by the brethren, as a man and a Mason. /\ INAUGURAL ADDRESS . . . From papa 24 liberator of the Philippines from the Japanese invaders, was a dedicated Mason. Passing mention is made of these few Masonic leaders, not be impress that all leaders in the world are Ma sons, but to remind us of their Ma sonic virtues, which should serve as beacon lights to all Masons wheresoev er dispersed; to make us Masons arise, go forward and follow the Masonic way and fear not what man can do unto you. Fear not a man because of his temporal influence, fear him not because of his ecclesiastical powers. Neither should Masons fear another man because of his wealth. In times of national distress, when freedom fighters were needed in this country, Freemasonry was not wan ting in leaders. From its folds emerged to become national leaders, Brothers Jose Rizal, Marcelo H. del Pilar, Lopez Jaena. Mariano Ponce, Antonio Luna, Moises Salvador, and an array of other great Filipinos. From the Masonic Lodges in the Philippines also sprang Brothers Juan Luna, Vergel de Dios, Abarquez, Andres Bonifacio, Apolinario Mabini. and in more recent times, Manuel Quezon, Jose Abad Santos, Manuel Roxas, Emilio Aguinaldo, and a host of other equally illustrious Filipino leaders. Bro. Masons, let the light of bro therly love, relief, freedom and truth, which has been kindled bv these great Masonic leaders be our beacon light in our efforts at attaining better un derstanding in this world, and in fighting all kinds of intolerance and oppression. Let us zealously guard against the insidious machinations and the misleading schemes of the enemies of truth. As Free and Accepted Masons Turn to next page JUNE, 1967 31 GRAND MASTER'S MESSAGE. .. From P.o. i great Man and Mason, his love of country and people, his glorious martyr dom in the fields of historic Bagumbayan that the bondage of political slavery that enmeshed his people may be broken, and that we, our children and our children's children may enjoy the blessings of liberty and that we may live in peace and harmony. To the masons, Bro. Rizal left a parting mess-age, which I quote: "Masons must not rest while a tyrant breathes on earth-, while the night collects the moaning sounds of the oppressed; while there be slaves; wh<le there be oppression." The example of Bro. Rizal's life is a precious Masonic heritage that we, the living, must cherish and as Masons emulate, to prove to the world, to those inclined to tyranny and oppression and to the intolerant bigots, that Bro. Rizal has not died in vain. INAUGURAL ADDRESS . . . From pig* 31 therefore, it behooves each and every one of us to counteract and disprove by evidence and by good deeds any or all attempts to desecrate the me mory of our departed brethren by cer tain elements who claim that in their last moments in this world, these brethren retracted from the teachings of Masonry, and in effect Wcame godless, heathens, communists and bigots. Let us encourage healthful discussions with those who . disparage us due to bias and ignorance. Let us continue living the exemplary life of Masons as lived and taught by Brother Jose Rizal. who chose to die rather than bargain the truth with the greedy schemers and decei vers of the time. On the proposition that only the trull can make a man free, let us endeavor always to infuse the truth, and beseech the blessings G. O. SABAS Jeweller Maker of Masonic Emblems and Jewelry D. R. ESCOSA Authorized Representative 76 Sibuyan St., Sta. Mesa Heights Quezon City Tel: 68998 of God in all our undertakings. In this way, we can prove to the whole world that in our being members of the ancient and venerable fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons, we have become become better Christians, Jews Shintoists and Moslems; that harmony reigns among us, where contention never exists, but that noble contention or rather emulation of who best can work and best agree. Let us pursue to fruition the ecumenism enun ciated and encouraged by the Vatican, through their Holiness. Pope John XXIII and Pope Paul VI. A GRANT TIIY LIGHT O God of Ages look tonight Upon Thy Craftsman: let Thy light Burn on the altars of his heart, And fit him for the Mason's Art. That light which pales the brightest star, . Ind leaps the void of spaces far To crown with beauty morning sky And evening hills to glorify. Touch with that light his heart, and grant, Oh God. grace to this supplicant. That in Thy temple he may be An ornament of Masonry. —Frankline Cable 32 The Cabletow