What faith and obedience can enable us

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

THAT gospel episode where Christ asked Peter to put out into deep water and lower his nets for a catch shows us that when we would simply have faith in God, we can do wonders in our spiritual life and apostolate despite the great odds that we may have to contend with. (cfr. Lk 5,1-11)

At first, Peter was doubtful if what Christ told him was worth following. “Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing,” he said. but to his credit, he immediately corrected himself. “But at your command I will lower the nets.”

The story is very moving indeed, and the good news is that it can happen to any of us as long as we have faith and trust in God. And because of that faith and trust, we can just obey God’s will and ways even if humanly speaking they may appear to us as an impossibility.

We need to learn to trust God, and in his word and in his ways, no matter how unreasonable, impractical or impossible. For this, we have to go beyond our own understanding and estimation of things, and open our mind and heart to the light of our faith and love for God and for others.

While it’s true that we have to use all our human faculties in dealing with our earthly affairs and concerns, that is, our intelligence and will, our sciences and arts, our common sense and cultural and social wisdom, we should not forget that all these would have no real value unless they are engaged with our faith in God.

God knows everything. He is omnipotent. He actually intervenes in our lives in the most intimate way since he is the one who ultimately supports our existence and who governs it wisely with his providence.

We have to realize that God continues to work and to govern over all his creation, and as his image and likeness, as his children, we are meant to cooperate in carrying God’s work and governance here on earth. Seen in this way, any work we do, as long as it is honest and good work, is actually first of all God’s work before it is ours. We should be excited to carry out that work with him!

We should just develop the sense of feeling at home with the fact that our life and all the challenges and trials we are going to face in it will always demand from us things beyond our powers and resources. And that’s simply because we are meant to go to God for all our needs, without neglecting any effort we can give along the way.

With God, we have everything. As St. Teresa de Avila would put it, “Solo Dios basta!” What we lack in our humanity, we can always make up by relying always and completely on God. 

But, alas, this can happen only when we have faith, for faith is our best resource. As St. John puts it in his first letter, “This is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith.” (Jn 5,4) Without faith, we are left with a big problem right from the start.

Thus, before all this exciting drama and adventure of life, our attitude should be that of being sporty and game, based on our faith in God and trust in his all-powerful and merciful providence. This attitude is actually what is presumed every time we enter into some form of commitment, whether to a vocation or marriage or work, etc.

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

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

UNDUE CARE AND ANXIETY

 

Worries, doubts, and anxieties are a normal part of life. It’s natural to worry about an unpaid bill, an upcoming job interview, or a first date. But “normal” worry becomes excessive when it’s persistent and uncontrollable. You worry every day about “what ifs” and worst-case scenarios, you can’t get anxious thoughts out of your head, and it interferes with your daily life.

Constant worrying, negative thinking, and always expecting the worst can take a toll on your emotional and physical health. It can sap your emotional strength, leave you feeling restless and jumpy, cause insomnia, headaches, stomach problems, and muscle tension, and make it difficult to concentrate at work or school. You may take your negative feelings out on the people closest to you, self-medicate with alcohol or drugs, or try to distract yourself by zoning out in front of screens. Chronic worrying can also be a major symptom of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), a common anxiety disorder that involves tension, nervousness, and a general feeling of unease that colors your whole life.

If you’re plagued by exaggerated worry and tension, there are steps you can take to turn off anxious thoughts. Chronic worrying is a mental habit that can be broken. You can train your brain to stay calm and look at life from a more balanced, less fearful perspective.

We hardly count our blessings. We enjoy counting our crosses. Instead of gains, we count our losses. We don't have to do all that counting - computers do it for us. Information is easily had.

Just remember this: Opportunity doesn't just knock - it jiggles the doorknob, and "your friend" - the worrier, is with you day and night, at every corner, following your every step. Complaining and grumbling are good excuses, aren't they? We have time and opportunities to do almost anything. So why haven't we done it? We have the freedom of bondage or restraint, every one of us in his or her very special way - but, we're still our old inferior selves.

The overbearing person, who tyrannizes the weak, the person, who wants to domineer and to bluster, is simply nothing else than a worrier, who might claim to be a friend. But he isn't! Really not! The bullying of fellow citizens by means of dread and fright has been going on since Paleolithic times. The night wolf is eating the moon. Give me silver, and I'll make him spit out.

Well, when will we start counting our courage and not our fears, or enjoy instead our woes? Worrying itself is pointless. Of course,  no society has achieved perfect rules of law, never-ending education or unique responsible governments. Let's seek out the worries but avoid the warriors, because they try to avoid liberty.

Covid cases down by 15%

By Kaithreen Cruz, Manila Times

THE nationwide seven-day average of new Covid-19 cases further dropped to 2,959 as of August 27, a 15-percent decline from the previous week, according to OCTA Research.

OCTA fellow Dr. Guido David said the seven-day average was at its highest just two weeks ago at 4,071 cases.

The average daily attack rate (ADAR) was 2.69 per 100,000 population — classified as low — as the reproduction rate, or the number of new cases caused by one infected individual, slid from 0.96 on August 17 to 0.91 on August 24.

A decrease in the positivity rate was also observed, from 16.2 to 14.3 percent as of August 26.

"If the current trends in the growth rate hold, this projects to less than 1,000 cases per day nationwide by mid-September and less than 500 per day by end of September," David said.

The World Health Organization set a 5-percent positivity rate benchmark to indicate that the infection is under control.

OCTA also observed that the Covid-19 reproduction number in the National Capital Region (NCR) was going down, to 0.99 on August 23 from 1.02 on August 16.

It was the first time since last May 11 that the reproduction number in Metro Manila had dropped below 1.

Covid positivity rate in NCR dips

David said infected numbers might be finally trending down, although at a slower rate.

The NCR positivity rate was at 13.6 percent on August 25, down by 1.1 percent from August 18, with new cases also decreasing to a seven-day average of 1,002 and a one-week growth rate of -9 percent.

"With the current pace, it could take eight weeks before the positivity rate decreases to less than five percent," David predicted.

Health care utilization for Covid-19 and ICU occupancy in NCR both dropped — from 37 to 35 percent and from 31 to 27 percent, respectively, from August 20 to August 25.

Last Friday, Department of Health (DoH) Officer in Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire reminded Filipinos to get vaccinated and boosted against Covid-19 to prevent hospitalization and deaths due to the virus.

The Pinas Lakas campaign is trying to administer booster shots to 23 million Filipinos before President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s first 100 days in office.

The DoH has administered 17.5 million boosters, 4.8 million of which were from NCR.

Vergeire noted that 60 percent of severe and critical Covid cases were either unvaccinated or only partially vaccinated.

Common tower policy to boost internet service

Information and Communications Secretary Ivan John Uy. Photo from Facebook page of Department of Information and Communications Technology

By Franco Jose C. Baroña

Information and Communications Secretary Ivan John Uy. Photo from Facebook page of Department of Information and Communications Technology

THE government has launched several programs that will "definitely speed up the deployment of better, more reliable and more economical connectivity" in the country, the head of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said.

Interviewed on "Business and Politics," a weekly TV program hosted by The Manila Times Chairman Dante "Klink" Ang 2nd, DICT Secretary Ivan John Enrile Uy said the Philippines has gone up several notches in terms of internet connectivity.

"But I am not happy and not satisfied. We aim to improve it further," he said.

Under the concept, telecommunications or communication service providers (telcos) will erect towers that they can lease to other telcos.

"So, each tower can now host several telcos instead of one tower per telco," Uy said.

The concept could bring the Philippines "up to par or even exceed" its neighbor Vietnam in terms of connectivity and internet speed, he said.

To further expand 5G, more towers need to be put up because the frequency requires that the towers be closer to each other, Uy said.

"For 4G you can have towers farther apart, 3G even farther apart. As we go higher, the density of the towers in a certain area has to increase. That is the challenge now," he said.

In the latest Speedtest Global Index, the Philippines' fixed broadband download speeds still lagged behind Vietnam's, but were well ahead of Asean countries Laos, Brunei, Indonesia, Cambodia and Myanmar.

The country's mobile internet download speeds are just below Vietnam's, according to the index.

Uy said the DICT is also helping Elon Musk's satellite-based Starlink set up business in the Philippines.

Starlink is run by SpaceX and provides satellite internet access to 39 countries.

"Filipinos can start to feel the benefits of this technology in less than 12 months," Uy said.

He said DICT already had several talks with Starlink officials.

"They are very encouraged because of our foreign direct investment laws. These have actually been liberalized and so they have been incentivized to bring in their business here. In fact, that is one of the reasons why they decided to set up Starlink in the Philippines," Uy said.

He stressed satellite technology is "not for everyone," particularly in urban areas where fiber optics had been laid down.

Uy noted that fiber optic technology is still the best in terms of bringing broadband to homes and businesses with its almost unlimited capacity in terms of speed, latency and economies of scale.

However, for the Philippines, which has more than 7,100 islands, satellite technology is more appropriate.

"The benefits of satellite technology will be more apparent in remote areas in the Philippines since in many of those islands fiber optics technology will not be feasible, at least not economically," Uy said.

"There are very small and sparsely populated islands and laying out those [fiber optic] submarine cables can cost too much for the income that can be generated from those small communities. We really have to use satellite technology in order to effectively provide internet connectivity to these areas," he added.

Uy said a lot of other foreign technology companies are "waiting, seeing and observing" how these investment laws in the Philippines will play.

"We would be having a mission soon to the US to explain to tech companies what the liberation for investments that the country has are and invite them over to do more investments," he said.

Last week, Uy said he met with US Ambassador to the Philippines MaryKay Loss Carlson to discuss investment opportunities American businessmen might want to explore in the country.

"She was very optimistic about the increased opportunities for foreigner investment of US companies in the country. She really actually looks forward to even more trade and economic activity between the two countries," Uy said of Carlson.