Coinciding with the highest one-day tally of coronavirus cases in the country (almost 10,000) was an equally high level of excitement in our household.
It was the day son #3 defended his dissertation for Doctor of Juridical Science. It was held online, open to the public, but I decided to avoid watching to preserve my composure. Tony wasn’t vocal (never vocal) about his reason for staying away.
At our perch in the terrace, we could hear son #3’s voice and the voices of the panel of distinguished justices and college of law deans. It seemed longer than two hours, but as soon as it was over, JR nonchalantly announced, “It went well. I was awarded Magna Cum Laude distinction.”
“Say that again? Say that again?!” I shrieked.
Tony and I went into an exceptional high, way above cloud nine, while still nailed to the ground.
In minutes, the dean of JR’s school uploaded on social media the result of the defense of the paper, "Convergent Streams: The Common Law and Civil Law Traditions, the Magisterium, and Sola Scriptura."
“What does that mean?” Tony wondered.
“Nobody has to understand,” JR replied with a straight face. “That’s how dissertations should be.”
He narrated that about the only negative comment he received was, “Some parts are too literary.”
(JR is a two-time Palanca awardee. I know how difficult it is to abandon one’s love for literature.)
In the comment thread of the above post came this accolade from one of the panelists: “Dr. JR, your treatise is far more comprehensive than any thesis some of our seminarians have done in our formation as priests. You contributed not only in the field of civil, but of canon, theology and history as well . . . Your book deserves a space in all seminary libraries in the Philippines.”
“Ah, so!” Tony remarked, like the light suddenly turned on. “The paper is about how human laws and God’s laws meet.”
Whatever, I said silently. This mom ignores details when grace suddenly shines through the darkness of a one-year old pandemic.
“If not for the pandemic, I would never have had the time to finish that paper,” JR said, as though rebuking my thoughts.
Ulk. That sounds like an April Fool’s Day joke.
No comments:
Post a Comment