Let’s keep growing and going

 

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

Chaplain

Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE)

Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

THIS is the ideal we should pursue in our self-giving, first to God and then to everybody else. If we truly love God and everybody else, with a love that is nothing less than a participation of the love God has for us and as commanded by Christ to us, then we will never say enough in our self-giving.

While it’s indeed laudable that in whatever we do, we try to give it our best shot, we should never forget that our best will never be enough insofar as pleasing God and everybody else is concerned. Our best can always be made better.

This should not surprise us, much less, cause us to worry. But we should acknowledge it so that we avoid getting self-satisfied with what we have done and then fall into self-complacency. That’s when we stop growing and improving as a human person and as a child of God.

We have to remember that we are meant for the infinite, for the spiritual and the supernatural. That’s a goal that we can never fully reach in our life here on earth. But we are meant to keep on trying.

In our spiritual life, we need to always go forward, to advance, to cover more area. In other words, we have to always go on the offensive, always growing and going. We cannot be all the time defensive, though that is also necessary, but as a complement to our efforts to reach our ultimate goal.

For our spiritual life to be truly alive and healthy, we should not just wait for things to happen. We have to make things happen. We cannot afford to be cold. We have to try our best to be as hot as possible and for always.

This is not going to be an easy task, of course. But we have been assured of God’s grace, and if we correspond to that grace as much as we can, somehow some progress can be made. More virtues can be acquired and developed. We can reach out to more and more people. We can do a lot of good.

Let us remember that in our spiritual life, that is, in our relation with God and with everybody else which is marked always by love, there is no such thing as a fixed position. Either we move forward or we slide backward. Let us not be deceived by the idea that we can be in some stable and fixed condition. The spiritual life is supposed to be always in a dynamic state.

What can keep us going in this regard is certainly not our own effort alone, much less our desire and ambition for fame, power or wealth. It’s not pride or some form of obsessions. These have a short prescription period. A ceiling is always set above them. In time, we will realize that everything we have done was just “vanity of vanities.”

It is God’s grace that does the trick. It’s when we correspond sincerely to God’s love for us that we get a self-perpetuating energy to do our best in any given moment. It’s when we can manage to do the impossible.

It’s a correspondence that definitely requires a lot of humility because we all have the inclination to be proud of our accomplishments that would kill any desire to do better. It’s also a correspondence that is always respectful of our human condition, given our strengths and weaknesses, our assets and limitations. 

It is important that this attitude be instilled actively in all of us, since it is what is proper to us as persons and children of God. It’s what keeps us growing and going.

Police step up 'Undas' security in 2 regions

By Mike Crismundo

Published Oct 25, 2025 01:21 pm

   

BUTUAN CITY – Police in the Caraga and Northern Mindanao regions have stepped up security for “Undas” or All Saints’ Day next week.

They are complemented by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), and force multipliers composed of barangay tanods (watchmen), radio groups, and non-government organizations.

More than 1,800 police officers will be deployed in the Caraga or Northeastern Mindanao region and 1,100 in Northern Mindanao or Region 10.

They will be assigned to cemeteries and memorial parks, transport terminals, seaports, and airports to provide security, manage traffic, and assist the public.

Police Major Jennifer S. Ometer, PRO-13 Regional Public Information Office (RPIO) chief, said the Media Action Center is open at the regional headquarters in Camp Rafael C. Rodriguez here.

“All systems go,” she said.

“We assure the public of our readiness to maintain peace and order, provide immediate assistance, and respond to any untoward incidents during the observance of the All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day,” PRO-13 Director Police Brig. Gen. Marcial Mariano P. Magistrado IV said.

Magistrado encouraged the public to cooperate with authorities and remain vigilant while visiting cemeteries, other public areas, and tourist destinations.

PRO 10-RPIO chief Police Major Joan G. Navarro said public assistance desks have been established in strategic locations in the region to cater to the needs of the public.

Police recorded around 672,000 visitors in Northern Mindanao during Undas last year.

“We have intensified our preparation and coordination with partner agencies and local government units to ensure the smooth observance of Undas. Our police officers are deployed not just to secure, but also to assist and respond to the needs of the public,” PRO-10 Director Police Brig. Gen. Christopher N. Abrahano said.

He reminded the public to cooperate with authorities, follow rules inside cemetery, and avoid bringing prohibited items such as bladed weapons, liquor, firearms, and loud sound systems.

“We appeal to everyone to be mindful and respectful during the observance. Let us work together to make this Undas peaceful and meaningful,” he added.

Study finds why poor sleep and high blood pressure may increase dementia risk

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New research links dementia to problems with the brain’s waste clearance system. Asya Molochkova/Stocksy

• The ‘glymphatic system’ — the flow of cerebrospinal fluid during sleep to flush out toxins and waste materials from the brain — plays an essential role in keeping the brain healthy.
• A new study, using MRI scans, found that people with cardiovascular risk factors that impaired the function of the glymphatic system had an increased risk of dementia.
• The researchers suggest that improving sleep patterns to enhance glymphatic system function and treating cardiovascular risks could both help reduce dementia risk.

The glymphatic system is a recently discovered waste clearance system, most active during sleep, that removes toxins and waste materials, including those associated with dementia, from the central nervous systemTrusted Source.

A new study has found that people with an impaired glymphatic system have a higher risk of developing dementia.

The study, published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s AssociationTrusted Source, suggests that improving glymphatic function could be a powerful tool in reducing the risk of dementia.

“These findings are largely expected, building on a growing body of research that implicates impaired cerebrospinal fluidTrusted Source (CSF) dynamics, often referred to as the ‘glymphatic system’, in dementia. Animal studies have long shown that disrupted CSF flow hampers the clearance of toxic proteins such as amyloid beta and tau, which are central to Alzheimer’s disease pathology. What makes this study significant is that it provides large-scale, human-based evidence from over 45,000 participants in the UK Biobank, confirming that MRI markers of CSF dysfunction […] are associated with higher dementia risk.”

— Dr Steve Allder, consultant neurologist at Re:Cognition Health, who was not involved in the study.