TRUST, CONFIDENCE, FAITH, RELIANCE

Its presence cements relationships by allowing people to live and work together, feel safe and belong to a group. Trust in a leader allows organizations and communities to flourish, while the absence of trust can cause fragmentation, conflict and even war.

Explains that trust is almost an unconditional bond when it comes down to family. Growing up with younger siblings, parents remind y'all to always look after one another, protect each other from bullies, or getting into trouble with the wrong crowd.

Trust means that you rely on someone else to do the right thing. You believe in the person's integrity and strength, to the extent that you're able to put yourself on the line, at some risk to yourself. Trust is essential to an effective team, because it provides a sense of safety.

If you trust someone then you believe that they’re honest and reliable. If you loan your car to someone, you had better trust them to bring it back to you, and in good shape.

Trust takes many forms. You could trust in something abstract, like the idea that things happen for a reason. If you are naïve, people might take advantage of your trust. A trust can also be a fund or an alliance meant to take care of something. A trust fund gives money to some lucky trustee so that he doesn’t need to worry about employment. A wildlife trust saves land from development so animals can live there.

What is the value of trust? It can be defined as the firm belief, faith and reliability of one's partner to be there for them. It allows for acceptance and loyalty. It provides safety, builds confidence and dependability. Even as partners form their mutual understanding of trust in the relationship, its absence can be felt acutely.

By the way, that's one thing, which can be observed also in the Philippines for a couple of years. I have observed such changes since my first visit to the Philippines in 1976. Nowadays, I feel happy if my nieces and nephews start listening again my ideas again and ask for my advice.

Those of us who have made good money, hold fewer illusions that a big house and a Mercedes (or any other brand!) in the garage are likely to bring happiness. But guys, what seems most precious to us nowadays is not career or success, but time and the freedom to do the things we love to do that hold meaning.

Failed marriages, difficult mid-life attempts, something that might pass away a family - yes, I think, we know the rarity of solid and long living relationships with a partner, with children or with a hard to find friend.

We may even dare to speak the language that 30 or 40 or even 50 years ago would have seemed uncool. Call it God or something spiritually, but it would probably be the quest for the sense of life, and the hope and faith that one exists.

We need faith for miracles to happen

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

GIVEN the precarious and wounded condition of our human life, plus the fact that we are meant to live a supernatural life, one that is simply beyond our human powers to attain without the help of God’s grace, we have to understand that many times we need to ask for miracles, those extraordinary interventions we ask of God for the simple reason that we would just find ourselves in some situations to be helpless and hopeless.

In fact, in the world today, we can detect an increasing number of predicaments that often reduce us to helplessness. This can be brought about by the new technologies that, while giving us a lot of advantages, can also cause great harm. Yes, these new technologies are a double-edged sword.

This truth about our need for faith for miracles to happen was illustrated many times in the gospel where all sorts of people approached Christ asking for some miracles. In the gospel of St. John (4,43-54) for example, we are given that episode of a royal official who begged Christ to heal his ill son. And the main factor that made that miracle take place was the faith that officials had.

“Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe,” Christ said. But the royal official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus said to him, “You may go; your son will live.” And since that official believed, his son was cured.

We have to have a strong faith for miracles to happen. If we have this kind of faith, we know that we always need to go to Christ, like those many helpless characters in the gospel who approached him for a cure. In other words, we cannot anymore rely on our human natural and human powers alone to handle our extraordinary predicaments. We have to beg for miracles!

Miracles are certainly part of what God has made available for our problems. When St. Paul said: “God will not let you be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it,” (1 Cor 10,13) he must have included this extraordinary recourse to miracles as one of God’s ways for us to endure any temptation or predicament.

And so let us go to Christ like the blind man Bartimaeus (Mk 10,46-52), the woman with the flow of blood (Mk 5,25), the 10 lepers (Lk 17,11-19), the man born blind (Jn 9,1-12), the man possessed by a legion of devils (Mk 5,1-10), and many others. Let’s go to him without delay, without hesitation.

We can also help others go to Christ if they themselves cannot do it, like what the father of a possessed boy did (Mk 9,17-24), those who brought a paralytic to Christ (Mk 2,4), the centurion who asked Jesus to heal his servant (Lk 7,1-10), etc. We can do a lot of good to others if we do this.

What is important is that we approach Christ with deep faith. In those miraculous cures Christ did, he always referred to the great faith of those who asked for those miracles.

Let us humble ourselves so that that faith can grow and show itself in deeds, like intense prayers and sacrifice. Remember what Christ told his disciples why they could not cure an epileptic boy. It was because of their little faith. (cfr. Mt 17,20)

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

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

LOSING OUR FAITH?

A friend of mine started talking with me and mentioned the good old days. Yes, those were the days my friend! Well, we all know: times have changed. More natural disasters, more wars, more people all over the world who are losing their faith. 

Faith, like love, is an element that bonds together relationships. And we lose faith like we lose love — for many reasons. Loss comes from misunderstandings, personality conflicts, tragic circumstances, ill treatment and our own ignorance, to name a few.

Some may lose faith because they disagree with religious teachings on current issues, or because the doctrine lacks strong evidence, doesn't make sense to them anymore, or because it simply does not add up. Others may become disillusioned following personal trauma; unanswered prayers; the existence of natural disasters, diseases and evil; the conflicts caused by religions; or the questionable morality of religious leaders and religious people.

Others say they dislike organized religion and want to make their own decisions rather than listening to somebody else. Still others become distracted by materialism, or find that they're too busy to participate.

People who walk away from religion usually say, “I shall be just fine. Please do not worry about me.”

To be or not to be. Sein oder nicht sein. Shakespeare. To say it clearly: without faith, we're really nothing.

Faith is belief; believe in us, in our works, talents and our personalities. We should also believe in our parents - or much better, in our whole family including the black sheep, which can be found everywhere. We should believe in our friends, even though it seems to become very difficult many times.

Please remember, my dear readers: without faith will we reach the rock bottom. Don't say, it's a likely story.

The German poet Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (1759-1815) has mentioned in his drama "Maria Stuart": "Even the word might be dead, but faith keeps it alive!" Chapter I of Second Thessalonians gives encouragement to all Christians, who were undergoing persecution for or because of their faith. Yes, faith is really not everybody's thing, or "not everyone has faith".

"If I have faith, that can move mountains" (First Corinthians 13,2).

Faith is a tantamount to convincing and conviction. Richard Wagner (German classical composer and poet, 1813-1883) found the following lyric: "Blessed are those people, who know how to live their life in humility and faith."

So, let's even continue believing in our governments or the institution church. Faith means also a belief specially in a revealed religion. Faith is trust or reliance. Faith is indeed a pledged word. Yes, I know.

Faithful love is loyal, reliable, exact and honorable love. Faithful love means even to love your enemy.

Allow me to close this column with a Chinese proverb: "People without faith in themselves cannot or will never survive!" - Worth to think about it!

What do we value as a nation? Family, education, and faith!

 

What do we value as a nation? Family, education, and faith!

The first weekend of a new year opens a window for some contemplation. How far have we come as a nation? Or how have we progressed as a family? One only needs to look at what a nation values to determine the moral standing of its people.

A cursory search on the term “values” reveals that these are the basic and fundamental beliefs that guide or motivate attitudes or actions. In short, values “help us determine what is important to us.” “Values describe the personal qualities we choose to embody to guide our actions; the sort of person we want to be; the manner in which we treat ourselves and others, and our interaction with the world around us. They provide the general guidelines for conduct.”

(C) 2022 by Manila Bulletin

WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO YOU IN LIFE?

What counts: Faith? Hope? Charity? Very often I ask myself: What's the sense of doing like and like that? What's the real meaning of life?

Nearly every morning, we get up and hurry to work. We see so many remorseful faces of people as if there are full of problems that a smile to them is like a sunbeam trapped behind the black clouds. Yes, sure, in these pandemic times, many of us might have already forgotten to smile.

Whether in good or bad times, our day at the workplace or in the home office goes on with our colleagues, employees or employers. And leisure time is there, no matter how great or small our zest for life is. 

So, we live our life in a logical sequence: day by day, week by week, month by month, year by year.  Every day is a cycle of life: every morning is like a birth and every night like a death.

But how do we live our life? Often we can notice people living an easy-go-lucky way of life. Others feel good and satisfied when they can make someone else's life hell. Others have to escape with their bare life while still others experience life-and-death-struggle.

What counts for us? Success? Power? Or money? Is it contentment? Peace on earth and in our souls? Really zest for life? 

If I observe people who really choose to be unhappy even without any reason at all, I feel sad. Being unhappy makes life miserable. Whatever happens around me, I don't like to be unhappy. For me, the meaning of happiness is to try to manage life even with problems and difficulties. Easier said than done! I know, I know.

The Bible states that love is greater than both faith and hope. We couldn't live our lives without faith or hope: without faith, we cannot know the God of love; without hope, we would not endure in our faith until we meet him face to face. Thus, love is the virtue upon which all Christian faith and hope now stand.

Dinah Maria Mulock Craik (20 April 1826 – 12 October 1887) was an English novelist and poet. Allow me to quote her, "When faith and hope fail, as they do sometimes, we must try charity, which is love in action".

Ano ang mahalaga? Paniniwala? Pag-asa? O kaya pagbibigayan at pagtutulungan?

The faith of the centurion

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

          REMEMBER that beautiful gospel episode of a centurion whose

faith was praised by Christ? (cfr. Mt 8,5-11) He asked Christ to cure

his sick servant and did not want to bother him by going to his place.

“Only say the word, and my servant will be healed,” he said.

          So impressed was Christ by this expression of faith that he

could not help but also say, “Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel

have I found such faith.” And the servant was healed.

          That story should teach us the precious lesson that we

should not hesitate to go to Christ to ask for some special and even

urgent and big favor, no matter how unworthy we feel we are. We should

never doubt Christ’s ever-ready response to attend to our needs. He is

always all there for us! We are always special to Christ, even if we

have committed some sins. Never forget that he came to save and not to

condemn.

          We just have to take care of our faith. We cannot deny that

in our life we will always be hounded by all sorts of problems and

troubles. But Christ always offers us a way to deal with them properly

and gainfully. Yes, with him, we can even take advantage of these

problems and troubles.

          We need to understand that as the very beginning of our life

with God, our life in the Spirit which is a supernatural life more

than just a natural life, our Christian faith has to be taken care of,

nourished and developed to full maturity.

          We need to be more aware of this duty and develop the

appropriate attitude and skill to carry out this responsibility

effectively. We have to go beyond mere good intentions or being merely

theoretical in order to be truly practical and vitally engaged with

this obligation.

          There is certainly a need to know the content of our faith.

We have to study and meditate on the gospel, the catechism and other

sources. We have to be attentive to the teachings of the Church

magisterium who is empowered and guaranteed by Christ to teach the

faith with authority and with infallibility.

          We need to see to it that our thinking and reasoning, our

intentions, words and deeds, should be guided by faith more than just

by our reason, much less by our common sense alone. These latter

sources of knowledge cannot capture the whole of reality, most

especially the spiritual and supernatural aspects of reality.

          We should be eager to ask for more faith, and to make many

acts of faith. This is a fundamental attitude to have. Let’s follow

the example of the apostles who said: “Lord, increase our faith.” (Lk

17,5) Also the father of a possessed boy who said: “I do believe,

Lord. Help my unbelief.” (Mk 9,24)

          Let’s also remember that to grow in faith we have to be

willing to exert a lot of effort and to make sacrifices. We have to

understand that with faith we are dealing with spiritual and

supernatural realities that do not come easy when we simply rely on

our senses and feelings. Discipline and self-denial are required.

          Of course, faith can take root deeply in our life if we

don’t just study it, but also act on it. Our faith should be converted

into action, into life itself!

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

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

Endure, persevere with faith and hope

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

          GIVEN the fact that we have already been warned by Christ

that the world will end badly and that in our life, we will always

have some trouble, (cfr. Lk 21,12-19) we should be properly prepared

for this condition in our life by learning how to suffer with faith,

hope and optimism, how to endure and persevere in the drama of our

life.

          We have to remember that if Christ could not help but had to

offer his life to save us, how can we think that our life and the

world in general would take a different path? Remember Christ telling

his disciples, “A servant is not greater than his master. If they

persecuted me, they will persecute you also.” (Jn 15,20) But let’s

always keep in mind his assurance, “In this world you will have

trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (Jn 16,33)

          Let’s just have to learn how to suffer, always with Christ,

that is, with faith, hope and optimism, convinced that all these

troubles will always be for the good. It would also help a lot if we

maintain a sporting spirit in life with a good and healthy sense of

humor.

          To be sure, we can manage to find joy in suffering only if

we identify ourselves with Christ. With Christ, suffering becomes an

act of selfless love that can take on anything. Only in him can we

find joy and meaning in suffering. With him, suffering loses its

purely negative and painful character, and assumes the happy salvific

character.

          We need to process this truth of our faith thoroughly,

always asking for God’s grace and training all our powers and

faculties to adapt to this reality. That’s why Christ told us clearly

that if we want to follow him, we simply have to deny ourselves, carry

the cross and follow him. There’s no other formula, given our wounded

human condition.

          This self-denial and carrying of Christ’s cross will enable

us to see that suffering is obviously the consequence of all our

sins—ours and those of others. Embracing suffering the way Christ

embraced his cross unites our suffering with that of Christ.

          For us to have this conviction, we really need to deepen and

strengthen our faith which will lead us to have an unwavering hope

that despite whatever, everything would just turn out right.

          With faith and hope, we can manage to endure anything and to

persevere, because as St. Paul told us once: “God, who began the good

work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished

on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” (Phil 1,6)

          The Pauline words somehow tell us that the secret of

perseverance is our strong faith in God, in his omnipotent and

merciful providence that can always make do with whatever situation we

may find ourselves in any given moment.

          We have to see to it that we keep that faith alive and

burning. And to make that faith vibrant, we need to keep ourselves

always in love. It’s love that keeps our faith going. It should be a

love that goes beyond good intentions, sweet words and nice feelings.

It has to be expressed in deeds.

          One clear manifestation of an operative love that nourishes

our faith that in turn enables us to persevere and to be faithful to

the end is the practice of a daily examination of conscience. Such

practice will help us to be always vigilant and properly focused and

directed.

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

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

A DISPLAY OF FAITH

What is the true meaning of faith? Faith means: belief, firm persuasion, assurance, firm conviction, faithfulness. Faith is confidence in what we hope for and the assurance that the lord is working, even though we cannot see it. Faith knows that no matter what the situation, in our lives or someone else's that the lord is working in it.

Trust or reliance? What does faith mean for you, my dear readers?  To say it clearly: without faith we are really nothing. Faith is belief; believe in us, beliefs in our works, talents and personalities. Faith - a great challenge in us and our future.

We also should believe in our parents or better, in the whole family including the black sheep, who can be found everywhere. We should also believe in our friends, even sometimes it seems to become a very difficult task. A friend? A real friend? An expatriate friend...?

Without faith, we will be reaching the rock bottom. Please don't say, it's a likely story. The German poet Johann Christian Friedrich von Schiller (1759-1815) mentioned in his drama "Maria Stuart": "Even the word might be dead, but faith keeps it alive." Yes, I can live with this.

Faith and hope belong together. In his book "Through the Valley of the Kwai", Scottish officer Ernest Gordon wrote of his years as a prisoner of World War II. The 6'2'' man suffered from malaria, diphtheria, typhoid, beriberi and jungle ulcers. Many circumstances quickly plunged his weight to less than 100 pounds. Lying in the dirt of the death house, he waited to die. But every day, a fellow prisoner came to wash his wounds and to encourage him to eat parts of his own rations. As this fellow prisoner nursed Ernest back to health, he talked with the agnostic Scotsman of his own strong faith in God and showed him that, even in the midst of suffering - there is hope - and faith!

Faith is indeed tantamount to convincing and conviction. Richard Wagner, a German classical composer and poet found the following lyric: "Blessed are those people, who know how to live their life in humility and faith!"

Well, let's even continue believing in our government. Faithful hope is loyal, reliable, exact and honorable.

Faith looks beyond the transient life with hope for all eternity. The hope we read in scripture is not a wishy-washy optimism. First and second Chapter of Thessalonians, for example, give encouragement to all Christians, who have been undergoing persecution for their faith. And, Corinthians 13:2 says: "If I have faith it can move mountains!"

Our blindness and our faith

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

          THAT gospel character Bartimaeus, the blind man, gives us a

precious lesson with respect to a certain blindness that we all have.

Like him, we have to acknowledge our blindness and humbly beg Christ

for a cure by repeating Bartimaeus’ words, “Master, I want to see” (ut

videam). (Mk 10,51)

          Though we may enjoy good vision at the moment, we have to

realize that to be able to see things properly and completely, we

simply do not rely on our eyes nor any of our senses.

          Our eyes and senses can only capture a little part of the

whole reality that governs us. They can only perceive what are called

the sensible realities, still light-years away from the intelligible,

not to mention the spiritual and supernatural aspects of reality.

          Still what they get and gather are very useful and in fact

are indispensable, since the data they give are like the raw materials

that will be processed by our more powerful faculties of intelligence

and will. In this sense we can already consider ourselves as suffering

from some kind of blindness.

          We need to be more aware that nowadays there is a strong

tendency to base our knowledge of things mainly on the material and

sensible realities alone. That’s why we have these disturbing

phenomena of materialism and commercialism comprising our mainstream

world of knowledge and understanding.

          We have to correct this tendency because that simply is not

the whole of reality. Our senses can only have a limited view of

things. And what is worse, that limited condition is aggravated by the

effects and consequences of our sins that not only limit but also

distort reality.

          We should imitate Bartimaeus in that when he realized it was

Christ passing by, he immediately screamed, “Son of David, have pity

on me!” We have to acknowledge that we are blind and that we are in

great need of help that can only come from God who is our Creator,

Father and Provider for everything that we need.

          Being the Creator, God is the one who has designed

everything in the world. He is the one who knows its ins and outs,

what is real and not real, good and bad, etc. It is from him and with

his light that we can see things clearly and completely.

          We should not simply depend on our senses, nor on our

intelligence and will and the other faculties we have, like our

memory, imagination and other talents, no matter how excellent they

are. At best, they are meant to be mere instruments.

          We have to acknowledge our blindness, ask Christ for a cure

with a lot of faith, so that we can actually see and know things as

they really are. We need to humble ourselves so that our pursuit for

knowledge will always be inspired and accompanied by the desire for a

growth of faith, for an insistent faith like that of the blind man in

the gospel, so that that knowledge will lead us to have greater

charity.

          We should be wary of our usual problem which we should

resolve by always deepening our humility. If we notice that the growth

of our knowledge of things does not lead us to a greater love for God

and for others, then it is bogus knowledge no matter how scientific

that knowledge may appear to be.

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

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

“Fortes in fide”

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

          THAT’S “strong in the faith” in English. The expression

comes from the First Letter of St. Peter (5,9) and is made also in the

First Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians (16,13) Both passages are

made in the context of our need to be always on guard against the

enemies of our soul and to be trusting of God’s will and ways.

          We need to make our faith strong and operative because that

is how we can start and maintain our life to be a life with God as it

should be. With faith, we start to share God’s knowledge of things and

his power, and that is how our life should be since we are God’s image

and likeness, meant to share in the very life of God.

          At one point, Christ lamented the common phenomenon of our

lack of faith. “This generation is an evil generation,” he said. “It

seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah.”

(cfr. Lk 11,29-32)

          If there is no faith, we will never see the things of God

and the rich reality of the truly spiritual and supernatural world, no

matter how much we spin our human powers to capture this reality. Not

even our powerful sciences and technologies can enter into the

spiritual and supernatural reality of our life.

          We have to realize that our faith should not remain only in

the theoretical, intellectual level. It has to be a functioning one,

giving shape and direction in our thoughts and intentions, our words

and deeds. In fact, it should shape our whole life.

          The ideal condition is for us to feel our faith immediately.

Indeed, it should be like an instinct such that whatever we think, say

or do, or whenever we have to react to something, it is our faith that

should guide us.

          We have to understand that it is our faith that gives us the

global picture of things, since it is God’s gift to us, a gratuitous

sharing of what God knows about himself and about the whole of

creation. It is meant for our own good, for us to live out our true

dignity as children of God.

          It is a kind of knowledge that will lead us to our eternal

life. It will make us relate everything in our earthly life, both the

good and the bad, to this ultimate goal in life which is to be in

heaven with God, a state that is supernatural. But it is a divine gift

that we need to take care of. It is like a seed that has to grow until

it becomes a big tree and bears fruit.

          For this, we really need to have a living contact with

Christ who is the fullness of God’s revelation to us. He is the

substance, the content and the spirit of our faith. So, the first

thing that we have to do is to look for him always in whatever thing

we are thinking, saying or doing.

          We need to check our attitudes and dispositions. Do we

really look for him, in the manner spelled out by Christ himself, that

is, with constancy and determination? Christ said: “Ask, and it shall

be given you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened

unto you.” (Mt 7,7)

          Of course, we have to understand that a functioning faith is

also the result of being actively guided by the Church which has been

given full powers by Christ to keep and teach the faith with his very

own authority.

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

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

Pope Francis thanks Filipinos for the joy ...

 

... they bring to the world, Christian communities; says Filipino women in Rome are ‘smugglers’ of faith

by Leslie Ann Aquino

Manila Bulletin

Pope Francis thanked Sunday, March 14, the Filipino people for the joy they bring to the whole world and Christian communities.

Pope Francis listens to Philippine Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle (not in picture) during a mass to mark 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines, on March 14, 2021 at St. Peter’s Basilica in The Vatican. (Photo by Tiziana FABI / POOL / AFP)

“Dear brothers and sisters, five hundred years have passed since the Christian message first arrived in the Philippines. You received the joy of the Gospel: the good news that God so loved us that he gave his Son for us. And this joy is evident in your people. We see it in your eyes, on your faces, in your songs and in your prayers. In the joy with which you bring your faith to other lands,”he said in a Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome in celebration of the 500 years of the arrival of Christianity in the Philippines.

“I have often said that here in Rome, Filipino women are ‘smugglers’ of faith! Because wherever they go to work, they sow the faith. It is part of your genes, a blessed ‘infectiousness’ that I urge you to preserve,” added the Pope.

“I want to thank you, then, for the joy you bring to the whole world and to our Christian communities,” he said.

In his homily, the Pope also urged Filipinos to persevere in the work of evangelization and to keep bringing the faith, the good news they have received 500 years ago, to others.

“On this very important anniversary for God’s holy people in the Philippines, I also want to urge you to persevere in the work of evangelization – not proselytism, which is something else,” he said.

“The Christian proclamation that you have received needs constantly to be brought to others. The Gospel message of God’s closeness cries out to be expressed in love for our brothers and sisters,” added the Pope.

“I know that this is the pastoral program of your Church: a missionary commitment that involves everyone and reaches everyone. Never be discouraged as you walk this path. Never be afraid to proclaim the Gospel, to serve and to love,” he said.

The Mass started with a procession of an image of the Sto. Niño (child Jesus) and a replica of the Magellan’s cross.

The pontiff was joined by Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, and Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, the pope’s vicar of Rome.

In the Philippines, most dioceses will launch the year-long commemoration on April 4, Easter Sunday.

In 2019, Pope Francis also led the Philippine traditional “Simbang Gabi” Mass with the Filipino community in Rome and acknowledged the role of overseas Filipino workers in the growth of Catholic Church throughout the world.

In his message after the Mass, the Pope called on Filipinos, especially those who are living abroad, to “continue to be smugglers of the faith”.

When he visited Manila in 2015, he also described how the Philippines is gifted “for it is the foremost Catholic country in Asia”.

“This is itself a special gift of God, a special blessing,” the pope said in his homily during Mass at the Luneta Park. “But it is also a vocation. Filipinos are called to be outstanding missionaries of the faith in Asia.”

Italy hosts the largest population of OFWs in Western Europe.

ARE WE LOSING FAITH AND HOPE ALREADY?

When I listen and lock around, I would have to answer this question with a big yes. Several friends of mine started talking with me and mentioned the good old days. Yes, those were the days my friend! Well, we all know: times have changed drastically. More natural disasters, more wars that hardly anyone speaks of anymore, and a pandemic that I have purposely put at the end of this list.

To be or not to be. Sein oder nicht sein. Shakespeare. To say it clearly: without faith and hope, we're really nothing.

Faith is belief; believe in us, in our works, talents and our personalities. We should also believe in our parents - or much better, in our whole family including the black sheep, which can be found everywhere.

We should believe in our friends, even if it seems to become very difficult nowadays. The pandemic kills many friendships.

Please remember, my dear readers: without faith  and hope will we reach the rock bottom. Don't say, it's a likely story.

The German poet Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (1759-1815) has mentioned in his drama "Maria Stuart": "Even the word might be dead, but faith keeps it alive!" Chapter I of Second Thessalonians gives encouragement to all Christians, who were undergoing persecution for or because of their faith. Yes, faith is really not everybody's thing, or "not everyone has faith".

"If I have faith, that can move mountains" (First Corinthians 13,2).

Faith is a tantamount to convincing and conviction. Richard Wagner (German classical composer and poet, 1813-1883) found the following lyric: "Blessed are those people, who know how to live their life in humility and faith."

So, let's even continue believing in our governments or the institution church. Faith means also a belief specially in a revealed religion. Faith is trust or reliance. Faith is indeed a pledged word. Yes, I know. Hope too.

People without faith and hope  in themselves cannot or will never survive. Worth to think about it!

What does faith mean for you?

What does faith mean for you?

OPINION

By KLAUS DORING

 February 29, 2020

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My column in Mindanao Daily, BusinessWeek Mindanao and Cagayan de Oro Times

TRUST or reliance?  A pledged word? Loyalty? A system of religious doctrines believed in? I would say, faith is everything. And clearly: without faith, we are really nothing.

Faith is belief; believe in us, beliefs in our works, talents and personalities. Belief in God.

We also should believe in our parents or better, in the whole family including the black sheep, who can be found everywhere. We should also believe in our friends, even sometimes it seems to become a very difficult task. A friend? A real friend? An expatriate friend...?

Without faith, we will be reaching the rock bottom. Please don't say, it's a likely story. The German poet Johann Christian Friedrich von Schiller (1759-1815) mentioned in his drama "Maria Stuart": "Even the word might be dead, but faith keeps it alive." Yes, I can live with this.

Faith and hope belongs together.

In his book "Through the Valley of the Kwai", Scottish officer Ernest Gordon wrote of his years as a prisoner of World War II. The 6'2'' man suffered from malaria, diphteria, typhoid, beriberi and jungle ulcers. Many circumstances quickly plunged his weight to less than 100 pounds. Lying in the dirt of the death house, he waited to die. But every day, a fellow prisoner came to wash his wounds and to encourage him to eat parts of his own rations. As this fellow prisoner nursed Ernest back to health, he talked with the agnostic Scotsman of his own strong faith in God and showed him that, even in the midst of suffering - there is hope - and faith!

Faith is indeed tantamount to convincing and conviction. Richard Wagner, a German classical composer and poet found the following lyric: "Blessed are those people, who know how to life their life in humility and faith!"

Well, let's even continue believing in our government. Faithful hope is loyal, reliable, exact and honorable.

Faith looks beyond the transient life with hope for all eternity. The hope, we read about in the scriptures is not a wishy-washy optimism. First and second Chapter of Thessalonians, for example, give encouragements to all Christians, who have been undergoing persecution for their faith. And, Corinthians 13:2 says: "If I have faith it can move mountains!"

Loosing faith?

MON, SEPTEMBER 11, 2017 BY THE MINDANAO DAILY MIRROR LEAVE A COMMENT

IN MY OPINIONKlaus Döring

A friend of mine started talking with me and mentioned the good old days. Yes, those were the days my friend! Well, we all know: times have changed. More natural disasters, more wars, more people all over the world who are loosing their faith.

To be or not to be. Sein oder nicht sein. Shakespeare. To say it clearly: without faith, we’re really nothing.

Faith is belief; believe in us, in our works, talents and our personalities. We should also believe in our parents – or much better, in our whole family including the black sheep, which can be found every where.

We should believe in our friends, even it seems to become very difficult many times.

Please remember, my dear readers: without faith will we reach the rock bottom. Don’t say, it’s a likely story.

The German poet Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (1759-1815) has mentioned in his drama “Maria Stuart”: “Even the word might be dead, but faith keeps it alive!” Chapter I of Second Thessalonians gives encouragement to all Christians, who were undergoing persecution for or because of their faith. Yes, faith is really not everybody’s thing, or “not everyone has faith”.

“If I have faith, that can move mountains” (First Corinthians 13,2).

Faith is a tantamount to convincing and conviction. Richard Wagner (German classical composer and poet, 1813-1883) found the following lyric: “Blessed are those people, who know how to live their life in humility and faith.”

So, let’s even continue believing in our governments or the institution church. Faith means also a belief specially in a revealed religion. Faith is trust or reliance. Faith is indeed a pledged word. Yes, I know.

Faithful love is loyal, reliable, exact and honorable love. Faithful love means even to love your enemy.

Allow me to close this column with a Chinese proverb: “People without faith in themselves cannot or will never survive!” – Worth to think about it!

Display of faith

WED, APRIL 12, 2017 BY THE MINDANAO DAILY MIRROR LEAVE A COMMENT

IN MY OPINION

Trust or reliance? What means faith for you? To say it clearly: without faith we are really nothing. Faith is belief; believe in us, beliefs in our works, talents and personalities.

We also should believe in our parents or better, in the whole family including the black sheep, who can be found everywhere. We should also believe in our friends, even sometimes it seems to become a very difficult task. A friend? A real friend? An expatriate friend…?

Without faith, we will be reaching the rock bottom. Please don’t say, it’s a likely story. The German poet Johann Christian Friedrich von Schiller (1759-1815) mentioned in his drama “Maria Stuart”: “Even the word might be dead, but faith keeps it alive.” Yes, I can live with this.

Faith and hope belongs together. In his book “Through the Valley of the Kwai”, Scottish officer Ernest Gordon wrote of his years as a prisoner of World War II. The 6’2” man suffered from malaria, diphtheria, typhoid, beriberi and jungle ulcers. Many circumstances quickly plunged his weight to less than 100 pounds. Lying in the dirt of the death house, he waited to die. But every day, a fellow prisoner came to wash his wounds and to encourage him to eat parts of his own rations. As this fellow prisoner nursed Ernest back to health, he talked with the agnostic Scotsman of his own strong faith in God and showed him that, even in the midst of suffering – there is hope – and faith!

Faith is indeed tantamount to convincing and conviction. Richard Wagner, a German classical composer and poet found the following lyric: “Blessed are those people, who know how to live their life in humility and faith!”

Well, let’s even continue believing in our government. Faithful hope is loyal, reliable, exact and honorable.

Faith looks beyond the transient life with hope for all eternity. The hope we read in scripture is not a wishywashy optimism. First and second Chapter of Thessalonians, for example, give encouragements to all Christians, who have been undergoing persecution for their faith. And, Corinthians 13:2 says: “If I have faith it can move mountains!”