𝟏𝟔𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐫𝐚𝐰 𝐍𝐠 𝐓𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐧, 𝐠𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐲𝐨𝐧

 

Sa milabayng semana, mahinumduman nga gisaulog sa katawhan sa Brgy. Tandawan, New Bataan ang pagselebrar sa 𝗶𝗸𝗮-𝟭𝟲 𝗔𝗿𝗮𝘄 𝗡𝗴 𝗧𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗻 nga naay temang "𝗔𝗻𝗴 𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗸𝗮𝗵𝗶𝘂𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗴 𝗸𝗮𝘁𝗮𝘄𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝗮 𝗕𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗮𝘆 𝗧𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝗴-𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗮 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗡𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗹" kaniadtong Hulyu 13-15, 2022.

Ang tulo ka adlaw na selebrasyon nagtumong sa pag-ambit sa mga gasang naabot ug muabot pa sa barangay ug kini usab ang adlaw sa pagpasalamat sa suporta sa katawhan sa mga pangandoy sa gobyerno sa paghatag sa mga batakang serbisyo nga gikinahanglan. 

Personal nga gitambungan mismo ni Governor Dorothy Montejo-Gonzaga ug 2nd District Representative Ruwel Peter Gonzaga ang maong selebrasyon diin mihatag ug Php50,000 na pinansyal nga assistance alang sa pagpalambo sa unom ka purok sa maong barangay.

"𝘈𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘺𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘺, 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘪 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘶𝘥 𝘬𝘢𝘳𝘶𝘯, 𝘨𝘢𝘨𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘬𝘢𝘢𝘺𝘶 𝘶𝘨 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘰... 𝘶𝘯𝘺𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘥 𝘱𝘢 𝘯𝘪 𝘬𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘯, 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘸 𝘮𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘨 c𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢 𝘶𝘨 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘰 𝘥𝘳𝘪 𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘨 𝘨𝘰𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘳," matud ni Cong. Gonzaga. Dugang niini, iyang gisulti nga pag-uli niya sa kongreso maghimo syag balaod nga himuon kini ug regular na barangay. (𝐽𝑎𝑦𝑛𝑢𝑠 𝐹𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑧 - 𝐼𝑛𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑂𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒 , 𝑃ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑠 𝑏𝑦 𝑅. 𝑅𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑏𝑙𝑎𝑠)

Involving the whole man

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

I AM referring to our relationship with God, as well as with everybody else. As much as possible, we should involve our entire humanity, and not just part of it, as in, we deal with God only spiritually and not bodily, only intellectually and not emotionally, etc.

We are reminded of this truth of our faith in that gospel episode where Christ “complained” about people who “look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand.” (cfr. Mt 13,10-17)

As that gospel narrates, the reason why Christ used parables instead of using a more direct language is because the heart of the people has grown gross. “They will hardly hear with their ears, they have closed their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and be converted,” Christ said.

In other words, the reason why the people failed to see and to understand what Christ is telling them is because they do not want to be converted. This is also the problem that many of us have. We need to be aware of this predicament and try to do something about it.

We really need to have a burning desire to be with God and with everybody else for us to be able to involve our whole humanity in all our relationships. Without that desire, which will also require the grace of God, we would not go all the way in dealing with God and with others. For all that we do that may appear as if we are doing a lot for God and for others, we would just end up indulging ourselves or simply affirming ourselves.

We need to discipline ourselves so as to involve our whole being in all our relationships. We always have the tendency to be fragmented and distracted, especially nowadays when we have a lot of things, a lot of novelties that can attract our attention at the expense of giving due attention to God and to others.

For this, we need to pause and do some spiritual exercises so that our belief and love for God and for others would really trickle down to our senses. In this regard, we have to give due attention to the need to educate our emotions and passions also.

As the Catechism tells us, our emotions and passions are “natural components of the human psyche; they form the passageway and ensure the connection between the life of the senses and the life of mind.” (1764)

Our emotions and passions therefore serve as a link between our body and soul. They are where we materialize what is spiritual in us, and spiritualize what is material in us. As such, they create a rich texture in our lives. They create the consistency proper to us as a person and as a child of God. They also help to give focus on our judgments, modulate our will, and add sensitivity to our reasoning.

In other words, they play a decisive role in achieving a happy and fully human life. They contribute to achieving the full potential of our humanity. But given the wounded condition of man, our emotions and passions need to be purified and thoroughly educated.

They should not be allowed to just develop at the instance of our hormones and instincts, for example, and the many other blind or short-sighted impulses and trends in our social, cultural, economic, or political environment. They need to be reined in, to be guided and given direction.

This is how we can aspire to involve our whole being in our relationship with God and with others.

* Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com