A year after we said farewell to our dear Rizalino “Lino” Dela Paz Rivera (19 June 1962–3 August 2023), the University community, led by the Mission Integration Cluster he started, celebrates his life and legacy, in a Mass on Saturday, August 3, 2024, 5pm, at the Ateneo College Chapel.

His career of engaging in people and organization development and nation-building culminated in his return to Ateneo de Manila in 2019 to be the Vice President for Social Development, and then our first Vice President for Mission Integration in 2022. Throughout his lifetime, Lino exemplified the values of service and leadership that we foster in our community.

You may view the livestream on this page or click here to view the livestream on YouTube.

Homily for the First Death Anniversary of Lino Rivera

Fr Roberto C Yap SJ, 3 August 2024

In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul opens with the words, “Behold, let me tell you a mystery.” He goes on to say that this mystery has to do with us not falling asleep, not dying, but being changed “... in an instant, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” In the preface for masses for the dead, we say, in death, life is changed, not ended. St Paul tells us that the Lord who is Risen, has conquered death once and for all. And so, we can taunt death and say, “O Death, where is your victory? O Death, where is your sting?”

It is a mystery, Paul says. It is a mystery that death has been conquered, because we cannot really know how. We believe, in faith, and that is all we can do. But you and I know that it is never easy, no matter how strong our faith is. Because there is always this human experience that in losing someone close to us, who has been so much a part of our lives – our faith says let go, but our hearts hang on.

Today, allow me to just bring up two points – first a reason why we would want to hang on, and second, a reason that makes it a little easier to let go.

First, the reason why we would want to hang on. I understand the difficulty of letting go when you have someone like Lino. The word that comes to the minds of his loved ones and friends in remembering him is ‘overflow’. Overflow. Buhós na buhós, at umaapaw. Ga-awas sa binisaya pa. Overflow.

Overflow. Lino Rivera was a truly accomplished person. Lino served as a facilitator and therapist at the Emmaus Center for Psycho-Spiritual Formation, guiding religious and lay organizations and individuals in fulfilling their mission to serve God and humanity. He was also the Faculty Chair of the Human Resource Cluster of the Ateneo Graduate School of Business from 2000-2009.

He also had the competence and experience in working for social change. He was active in working for the two Aquino Presidents, Cory and Noynoy. Lino served as the Undersecretary for Governance and Operations of the Department of Education (2010- 2016) under Bro Armin during PNoy’s administration. He was an adviser and consultant to various government agencies, such as the BARMM Ministry of Basic, Higher, and Technical Education, Marikina City Office of the Mayor, and the Office of the Vice President under Atty Leni Robredo.

Overflow. Lino returned to the Ateneo in 2019 as Vice President for Social Development. Then in School Year 22-23, I formed a new Cluster, Mission Integration which would focus and specialize on two essential pillars of a Jesuit university: Formation and Social Engagement. These two pillars are non-negotiable aspects of the Jesuit mission of a university. And integrating them together would strengthen our identity as a Jesuit university. In spite his health challenges (he was already undergoing thrice a week dialysis), I thought Lino was just the right person to become the first Vice President for Mission Integration at Ateneo de Manila. Throughout his lifetime, Lino exemplified the values of service and leadership that we foster among our students, staff, faculty, and administrators. He was indefatigable in engaging in people and organization development and nation- building. Mike Alba, former FEU President was spot on in his Viber message when he described Lino as “fiercely loyal to the Aquinos, Br Armin, and Ateneo (maybe in this order).”

Overflow. Lino was a loving and caring husband, father, and sibling. He was a loving partner to Jingle. A caring father to his children, Sam, Ina, Iñigo. A dependable brother to his siblings, Lito, Tes and Peter. Dear family and close friends of Lino, you have your own special and beautiful memories of Lino which I am sure you will always savor and treasure deeply. Lino was a good & decent person, a light presence who made others happier whenever he was around.

So, I come to my second point – a reason that makes it a little easier to let go.

My own father died in 1982. He went through much pain suffering from colon cancer, and even when he passed and it was easier to see him finally lying peacefully, there was still that intense sense of loss, which was not easy to overcome. So, for one year, my mother visited the cemetery almost every day to pray the rosary, to light a candle, to leave some flowers. After the first death anniversary, she would just go every month, and then every three months. Then, there came a time when she and our family just went once a year on his death anniversary which was also his birth anniversary. Finally, these days, more than 42 years since his passing, we, the children, living far away from home now, hardly ever visit at the cemetery in Cebu.

But we know that our father stepped out of this world, and into our memory, and from the memory he went deeper into our hearts, and from our hearts, he slipped quietly and gently into our every day. In a strange mysterious way, he is never lost. He is always with us.

Dear family and friends of Lino, Lino stepped out of this world, and into your memory, and from the memory he went deeper into your hearts, and from your hearts, he slipped quietly and gently into your every day. He is always with you.

Because love lingers. That is the reason that makes it a little easier to let go. Love lingers.

In John’s Gospel Jesus declares,

“I am the resurrection and the life;
whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live,
and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.

Do you believe this?”
Martha said to him, “Yes, Lord.
I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God,

the one who is coming into the world.”

Like what He said to Martha, Jesus says to the family and friends of Lino, you can stop weeping and wipe away your tears. He is our Resurrection and our Life. He will share the fullness of life, love, and goodness with Lino, with his family, and with all of us.

The Risen Lord tells us to allow the love and the goodness to linger. Live the love I lived by bringing it to life again every day of your life, with all the people you encounter. Those of you who have received Lino’s love are now invited to bring it to life again and again and again, with all the many other persons in your lives. In that way, the overflow continues. It never ends ... and death has truly been conquered.

None of this will make the grief disappear, but it can make the letting go easier.

Eternal rest grant unto Lino, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace. Amen. Amen.