By Raul Adames, Headmaster of Colegio Abat Oliba, published in the CEU school magazine.
“The whole world steps aside for a man who knows where he is going.” This quotation from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was one of the last matters I had the chance to discuss with Marcos, to whom we dedicate this article following his death on Saturday 21 February. He was a former pupil of the school and, once he had finished his sixth-form studies, he decided to read Physics, combining it – among many other things – with his work supervising the playground and the dining hall at the school. He was a man of God whose mark left no one indifferent; his daily dealings with Christ meant that he lived the faith consistently in the place where God had put him. Marcos knew where he was going.
It was precisely in his everyday life that he discovered and confirmed the certainty of his vocation, and on finishing his studies he decided to enter the Seminary of Barcelona. He explained among friends that his university years had been decisive in gaining the certainty of what God was asking of him, for he had time to let that self-giving mature as he touched the presence of Christ in his studies, in the lecture halls and in his fellow students. On the night of his death he said to a friend: “Christ is the most jealous girlfriend I have ever had, because he asks me for everything.” And Marcos decided to give him everything, and his life was the result of that self-giving. Those closest to him stress that he was a point of reference to follow, and that thanks to his friendship people grew inwardly. With his kindly, fatherly manner he always sought the personal good of each one.
On the last day he came to work at the school we were talking about his entering the seminary and about how his decision had made an impact on his fellow students and lecturers at the faculty. “We are losing a great supervisor,” I said to him, and with a smile he replied: “Don’t complain, the Boss has signed me up.” We smiled and shook hands. I could never have imagined how important that moment would become days later, and how it would help me not to complain about his departure, and to trust in God.
Marcos said to his brother Nicolás, also a former pupil of the school, when he moved to the seminary in Barcelona: “Our paths are parting and that hurts, but on the great journey we walk together.”
Since that Saturday in the early hours, these have been days of trust in God. We do not understand it and it pains us, but he knows better. Above all they have been days of great fruits, of people who, as he often said, have changed the way they look at reality.
I give thanks for these years in which our pupils have been able to share their time with Marcos, though I am sure he will go on caring for the school from heaven.
Machine translation. If you spot a mistake, do write to us.