My life in the Philippines is really awesome and wonderful

 

Even Christ needed to pray

By Fr. Roy Cimagala*

“JESUS made the disciples get into a boat and precede him to the other side of the sea, while he dismissed the crowds. After doing so, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When it was evening he was there alone.” (Mt 14,22-23)

As can be clearly seen in this gospel passage, even Christ had need to pray. As God, we can say that he had no need to pray. As a man, of course, he had to. But Christ is one divine person. When he prayed, we have to understand that he prayed both as God and man.

This consideration can only mean that prayer is an essential and indispensable element in God and man who has been created in God’s image and likeness. We need to realize that prayer is an essential and indispensable element in our life. Without prayer, we would actually violate our humanity.

We need to understand that we need prayer more than we need air or water or food. Prayer is what connects us and likens us to God. Prayer is what makes our life a life with God as it should be. We should, therefore, cultivate a life of prayer, making prayer like an instinct, such that whatever we are doing, whatever situation we may be in, we should be praying.

To be sure, prayer can be done anytime, anywhere. Praying is not simply a matter of reciting some vocal prayers or participating in liturgical prayers. It is not only a matter of meditating on some truths of our faith. All of these are very important, of course, and highly recommended. They are the basics to learn if we wish to develop a working life of prayer.

The ultimate prayer is when our very consciousness always has God in Christ through the Holy Spirit as its core. This may be described as contemplative prayer which will have its definitive state in heaven when we see God face to face and when our identification with him becomes perfect. This is when we will have a beautiful vision.

We have to understand that it’s when we pray, that is, when we truly pray and not just going through the motions of praying, that we would be engaging ourselves with the most important person in our life, God himself. He is absolutely our everything, without whom nothing and no one has any importance.

It’s when we pray that we manage to relate who we are, what we have, what we do, etc. to our ultimate end which, to be sure, is not something only natural but is also supernatural. Nothing therefore can rival the importance of prayer. In other words, prayer is irreplaceable, unsubstitutable, indispensable. It’s never optional, though it has to be done freely if we want our prayer to be real prayer.

The absolutely important thing that makes prayer real prayer is when we manage to give all our mind and heart to God in whatever thing we do or in whatever situation we may find ourselves in. That’s why St. Paul once said, “Pray without ceasing.” (1 Thes 5,17) That’s simply because our whole life has to be a prayer, since it is meant to be in constant and intimate relationship with God.

So, even our work and all our earthly concerns can be made into prayer as long as we have the proper motive and frame of mind. 

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

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

BDO income up 12% to P23.9B

 

NEW FUNDS A view of BDO Unibank Inc.’s main office building in Makati City. According to the lender, it has raised P52.7 billion in new funds through fixed-rate Asean Sustainability Bonds. PHOTO BY ENRIQUE AGCAOILI

BDO Unibank Inc. (BDO) posted a 12-percent increase in its net income for the first half of 2022 to P23.9 billion on the back of strong results across its core businesses.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday, BDO said its customer loan portfolio grew by 9 percent, bolstered by an 11-percent increase in its current account savings accounts (CASA) deposits, which now comprise 85 percent of total deposits.

The company said noninterest income was up to P34.3 billion, lifted by the increased volume of transactions, translating into an increase in fees and insurance premiums.

Pre-provision operating profit also increased up to P39.2 billion, reflecting the strength of core income sources amid a tempered increase in operating expenditures.

Asset quality sustained its improvement as the nonperforming loan ratio went down further to 2.39 percent, as against 2.72 percent a quarter ago and 3.12 percent year on year.

BDO continues to roll out new digital capabilities and self-service technologies across branches to make banking services more accessible, easier to use and operationally efficient. These branch innovations include paperless straight through processing capability, covering 80 percent of branch transactions and card-less automated teller machine transactions using biometrics, facial recognition and QR codes.

BDO is now also offering its mobile wallet, BDO Pay, to non-BDO account holders. BDO Pay does not require any initial deposit nor maintaining balance, and currently allows fund transfers to other bank accounts without transaction fees.

BDO's established business franchise, healthy capital position and sustainable earnings performance reinforce the bank's resilience against prevailing macroeconomic headwinds and puts it in a good position to capitalize on the country's opportunities for sustained long-term growth.

Marcos declares 10-day national mourning for FVR

Former president Fidel V. Ramos (REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco / MANILA BULLETIN)

by Betheena Unite, Manila Bulletin

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has declared a 10-day period of national mourning over the passing of former President Fidel V. Ramos.

The signed proclamation stated that with the contributions of Ramos, who is also known for his initials FVR, “it is fitting to devote a period of national mourning to pay tribute to an esteemed leader who has dedicated his life to public service and has left a lasting mark on our country.”

 

During the Period of National Mourning, the Philippine flag shall be flown at half-mast as a sign of mourning on all buildings and places it is displayed as stated under Chapter 1 of Republic Act No. 8491 or the “Flag and Heraldic Code of the Philippines.”

Ramos was the country’s 12th president from 1992 to 1998.

Prior to his presidency, he served as the chief of Philippine Constabulary from 1972 to 1986, chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) from 1986 to 1988, and Secretary of National Defense from 1988 to 1991.

He was named as Military Hero of the Peaceful People Revolution for his paramount role in returning democracy to the Philippines.

On Sunday, the Palace extended sympathy to the loved ones of FVR, who passed away at the age of 94.

“Our family shares the Filipino people’s grief on this sad day. We did not only lose a good leader but also a member of the family,” the President said in his statement.

He also called on the citizenry to pray for the eternal repose of the former president.