DON BRENNOCK FRATERNAL ADDRESS

Fraternal address to the Bonn Chapter,
on its 30^th. Anniversary Celebrations.

This is a day of celebration mainly, but of course, there have to be some speeches; despite our protests, most of us do like to hear the sound of our own voices ! However, I will follow the advice given to me many years ago by my Father: When you must speak, stand up, speak up . . . . and then ‘shut up’.

Sir Peter, Chapter Members, Ladies of the Kababaihang Rizalista, honoured Guests, fellow Rizalists, please accept my sincere personal apologies and those of the Dublin Chapter that we are unable to be with you to-day, to celebrate and honour your achievement of 30 years of the Knights of Rizal in Bonn. Our Most Sincere Congratulations to you all and may your celebrations be successful, enjoyable and the beginnings of many more years of success and development for the Order of the Knights of Rizal in Bonn.

It is a very fine achievement indeed to have reached such a milestone, and great credit is due to the leadership of your Chapter Commander, Sir Peter Plückebaum, his Deputy Sir Celso Lacuña, the Members and Ladies of your Chapter and all those others as well, who, in previous years, strove to propagate and honour the Ideals and Teachings of Dr. Rizal, and to uphold the good name of the Order founded in his memory.

We live in a very different World now, unfortunately, where such fine and honourable ideals and models of behaviour, as espoused by The Order of the Knights of Rizal in the name of Dr, Rizal, are far less respected and acted on. A World where personal aggrandisement and self-serving actions seem to have taken over, and true service to others and for the greater good of the community seems to have been set aside, to a very large degree.

A celebratory occasion such as this, however, is not the time to attempt to engage with all the difficulties that beset our beloved Order at this moment, at International Headquarters level, Regionally and at Chapter level. Equally, it would be burying our heads in the sand to ignore the fact that we do have problems and that it is up to us, individually and as Chapters, to engage with these problems to resolve them. If we do not, we will be responsible for the destruction of the Organisation we claim to respect and honour. We must not be hypocrites and allow this to happen. We must have the courage, the conviction and the generosity of heart to examine ourselves, our actions or lack of, and our behaviour, AND be brave enough to allow others to examine us in the same areas also. If we have nothing to hide or be ashamed of why should we be afraid of such an examination.

I cannot but ask that each one of us reflects seriously on our personal reasons and motivation for being, and continuing to be, a Member of this Illustrious Order and consider honestly whether we actually contribute to the ideals of ‘A Civic, Patriotic, Cultural, Non-Sectarian and Non-Partisan Organisation’ ; and, do we actively believe in, follow and act on the ‘Purposes and Objectives’ of our Order, as outlined in Section ĪĪ of our Bye Laws ? Do we actually know what these are ?

Thank You for listening.

Non Omnis Moriar.

Sir Don Brennock KCR,

Dublin

20^th. October 2007