Developing the apostolic spirit

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

ONE clear sign that we are truly Christians is when we have an abiding apostolic concern. It can only mean that we are sharing in the very mission of Christ who came here to save all men. And that’s what being an apostle is. We have to realize then that we all have an apostolic vocation. Yes, everyone is called to be apostle in whatever circumstance he may be in.

Have you ever wondered why Christ appeared to just choose his apostles at random? He would just pass by a certain place, and upon seeing someone, he would just say, “Come, follow me.” And wonder of wonders, the person called would just follow him without any question. In fact, it is said that the person called would just leave everything behind (“relictis omnibus”).

I guess the only plausible answer to that question is that Christ had all the right to do so, and the person called also had the duty to respond accordingly, because in the final analysis, all of us are actually meant to be an apostle. That is to say, to be some kind of ambassador, a representative of Christ on earth.

At bottom, the answer is because we are supposed to be like Christ, another Christ, if not Christ himself (“alter Christus,” and even “ipse Christus”). All of us are patterned after Christ, and so we cannot avoid being involved in the mission of Christ which is the salvation of all mankind.

We have to process this basic truth of faith about ourselves, channeling and assimilating it into our very consciousness and instincts, because we often take this essential aspect of our identity for granted. 

Especially now, with all the absorbing and riveting things around, we tend to forget that we should always have an apostolic concern that we ought to pursue with utmost zeal. Without this apostolic concern, we would be distorting if not betraying our human and Christian identity.

We have to be apostolic because that is how we are by our very nature. With our intelligence and will and all our other faculties, powers and endowments we have, we are meant and enabled to enter into relation with others, with everybody else, in fact. 

It should be a relation marked by love, by concern, by desire to help and be helped, to lead and be led to what is our good in all its levels and aspects, until we all reach the ultimate good who is God.

We can always do apostolate in any situation, whether we are working or resting, at home or in the office, doing business or politics, etc. In fact, everything in our life should have an apostolic end. More than that, these situations would lack their real value if they fail to attend to the apostolic possibilities they contain.

Our call to holiness will always involve our duty to be apostolic. Sanctity and apostolate cannot be separated. This is simply because to be with Christ, to be another Christ as we ought to be, we have to be involved in Christ’s continuing work of redemption. Our sanctification cannot be deprived of its apostolic dimension.

We have to realize ever more deeply that to feel this urge to be an apostle and to do apostolate all the time, we have to be vitally united and identified with Christ. We cannot overemphasize the need for us to truly pray and meditate on Christ’s life and teaching so that we can acquire the very mind and heart of Christ, his every desire and spirit.

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

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

Philippines records highest COVID-19 cases in a day

The STAR / Walter Bollozos

By Xave Gregorio - Philstar.com

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines recorded on Saturday its highest number of COVID-19 cases in a single day since the pandemic began.

The Department of Health reported that the country logged 26,458 new coronavirus infections, surpassing the previous peak during the Delta-driven surge of 26,303 cases, bringing the total number of cases to 2,936,875.

Meanwhile, the single-day death toll hit the highest in over two months, with the DOH reporting 265 new deaths, pushing the total number of fatalities to 52,135.

The DOH also reported 1,656 recoveries, bringing the total number of people who got well from the disease to 2,782,723.

Active cases are at its highest in nearly three months with 102,017 people still dealing with a coronavirus infection, according to the DOH.

As new coronavirus infections surge to its highest ever, which the government parly blamed on the local transmission of the Omicron variant, some experts are calling for the government’s pandemic task force to escalate the COVID-19 alert level over areas with increasing cases, particularly virus epicenter Metro Manila.

But presidential adviser for entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion told One News’ “Agenda” that the government’s pandemic task force is not yet considering imposing a sweeping lockdown over Metro Manila.

Concepcion, however, admitted that “there are talks” about placing the capital region under Alert Level 4.

Hospital bed occupancy in Metro Manila is gradually increasing as cases rise, including in the Philippine General Hospital, a COVID-19 referral center, where its intensive care unit for coronavirus patients has hit full capacity.

PGH’s workforce is also stretched thin, with 25% of its healthcare workers having been infected with COVID-19. — with a report from Gaea Katreena Cabico

21,819 new COVID-19 cases, highest since September 2021

Patients and their companions crowd outside Amang Rodriguez Medical Center in Marikina City as they wait to be admitted to the hospital on Monday, Jan. 3, 2022 as the Philippines records a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases at the start of the year.

By Walter Bollozos, Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health on Friday logged 21,819 new COVID-19 infections — the highest single-day tally since September 18 last year — pushing the total to 2,910,664 cases.

The Philippines is seeing a sharp increase in new COVID-19 cases in the past week driven by the more infectious Omicron variant as well as increased mobility and laxness in observing safety protocols over the holidays.

The DOH also recorded 129 new fatalities and 973 additional recoveries.

63% cases from Metro Manila

Of the new infections logged on Friday, 63% or 13,634 were traced to Metro Manila. Calabarzon region saw 4,129 new cases (19%) while Central Luzon logged 2,084 (10%) additional infections.

The DOH bulletin also showed that the positivity rate is at 40%, meaning two out of every five people tested were positive for COVID-19.

Utilization rates of Intensive Care Units, isolation and ward beds nationwide also continue to rise.

The DOH bulletin showed that 32% of ICU beds, 35% isolation beds and 31% of ward beds across the country are currently being used. In Metro Manila, where majority of the new cases are traced, 48% of ICU beds, 47% of isolation beds and 59% of ward beds are in use.

The national government on Thursday night placed five more provinces and nine cities — on top of Metro Manila and four nearby provinces — under Alert Level 3 until January 15.

Giving witness to our faith in public

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

CHRIST went to a synagogue, unrolled the scroll, read some passages and proclaimed that what he just read was fulfilled in him upon the audience’s hearing. And the people were amazed at the gracious words Christ spoke. (cfr. Lk 4,14-22)

That gospel episode somehow reminds us that like Christ, we too should proclaim our faith as revealed in the gospel first with our own life, words and deeds, before we can proclaim it to everybody else with a certain eloquence and effectiveness.

We have to realize more deeply that we need to live our faith also in our public life. Our faith is not supposed to be only private and personal, since our life in public is an integral and unavoidable part of our life, and there has to be certain consistency of our faith in our private and public life.

But we have to realize also that some prudence and discretion in this matter is required. And that’s because we have to make sure that our faith avoids getting entangled in temporal affairs and matters of opinion where a plurality of views should be respected. Besides, our faith tells us that we cannot solve all our problems here on earth, and that the final judgment belongs to God and not to us.

We have to expect some differences, conflicts and disagreements among ourselves. We have to expect to be misunderstood and to suffer, even up to death, since Christ already showed us how these possibilities can also happen to us as it happened to him who was the perfect embodiment of the Christian faith.

Christ, for example, did not engage in partisan politics although he knew very well the ugly shenanigans of the leaders of that time. He, of course, proclaimed what was right and wrong, did some corrections and even scoldings, especially among those close to him, the apostles. In all these, what was clear was that everything was done with charity which is an indispensable partner of faith. Without charity, faith cannot fly.

But, yes, we have to proclaim our faith in public, in season and out of season, as St. Paul once said. Especially these days when delicate moral issues need to be resolved very clearly: abortion, confusion about sexual identity and human nature, disconnection of science and technology from morality, lack of respect for freedom of conscience, questionable educational thrusts in schools, etc. 

Faith and religion are always involved in these issues. While these issues have to be considered under many aspects, we have to understand that the considerations of faith and religion, being so basic in us, should be given priority.

It’s in our faith and religion that the fundamental and ultimate meaning of these issues are given. It’s where our ultimate common good is determined. The practical, the legal, the social, cultural and historical aspects have to somehow defer to them.

Contrary to some views, being consistent to one’s faith and religion in public office does not make him a fanatic, a fundamentalist or detached from reality. Quite the opposite is true.

Certainly, they have to do this task properly, knowing which part of the issues are open to opinion and therefore can change, and which are of the nature of the eternal truth, that should not be changed. 

They have to master the art of dialogue, knowing how to argue in defense especially of the uncompromisable part of the issues with forcefulness, flexibility and naturalness. This is where their leadership can truly be shown.

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

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2022

 

With 2022 knocking on our doors, there is no better way to remember your special friends and family members than with a thoughtful message or a Happy New Year card. The beginning of a new year is the time to let go of old grudges and old worries and to turn over a new chapter of life. 

With 2021 coming to an end, people are eager to celebrate the start of something new. However, celebrations are likely to be muted this year as the pandemic continues to ride the Omicron wave. Across the country, several restrictions have been put in place to slow the spread of the highly-infectious Omicron variant of Covid-19. 

In such a scenario, going out and partying may not be advisable, but that doesn't mean you can't celebrate the arrival of 2022. 

And yes, let's face it: one reason we welcome 2022 is that we can bid 20121 adieu. We are ready to leave some of its disappointments and tragedies behind. Some things, like natural disasters, accidents or illness, we have no control over. But there are some common blocks to happiness we can kick out of the roadway.

Remember: fear is caused by anxiety. Coveting is caused by comparing. Busyness is caused by over-commitment. Our schedules can be so full that we have no time for God, for ourselves, or anyone else. Must not be!

The foundation of happiness is joy. The basis of joy for followers of Jesus Christ is our salvation, our fellowship with God, our delight in serving Him, and our relationship with other Christians.

So what changes will you make in 2022? Personally speaking, I am giving myself more time for myself and for others. I don't know if you made a list of dreams you wish to fulfill this year. Sure, it could be ordinary and small things: losing 10 kilos, quitting smoking... . Maybe you set some even seemingly impossible dreams for yourself.

Again: the foundation of happiness is joy. Joy is a gift from the lord, as Psalm 126:3 says. A gift from the Lord, which we often rob from ourselves. Let's take it back in 2022. It will help us to have a HAPPY NEW YEAR  all year long.

Do Filipino have weird food combinations?

By: Erwin Anciano

Quezo Real Ice Cream

This is cheese flavored ice cream with real cheese bits inside. Absolutely heavenly!

Filipino-style Spaghetti

This is a sweet bolognese-style spaghetti sauce with another unusual main ingredient: hot dogs!

Coffee and Bread

Filipinos love dipping pandesal (morning bread) into coffee. It’s like having coffee with donuts, but we’re not just content to eat them together, the coffee is an actual dipping sauce for the bread.

Puto and Dinuguan

Puto is a rice cake (similar to man tou buns from China) and it goes hand in hand with Dinuguan, which is, basically, dried pig’s blood. So we basically like to eat rice with blood. (and no, I don’t like this particular dish hah!)

Fried Chicken and Banana Ketchup

Do you think making ketchup with bananas is weird? Well we go even further than that! We eat that great American staple, fried chicken, with ketchup, and not just any ketchup, we like it with banana ketchup! There’s also a specific Filipino dish called Chicken Acarahai which is basically chicken cooked with ketchup, but that’s another story.

Champorado with Tuyo

Rice porridges and congees are common in Asian cuisine, but it’s only in the Philippines where you’ll get chocolate mixed with rice! That’s champorado, one of my favorite dishes. It’s made with milk, rice and chocolate. But wait, there’s more! To add some character to the dish we also add some dried fish to it, known as Tuyo. Mmmm!!

Bagoong and Mangoes

What do you like to eat with mangoes? I’ll tell you what FIlipinos like with it. They take a green, unripe mango and eat it with a concoction known as bagoong, made out of shrimp ground into a fine paste! (I am allergic to this, so I never eat it).

French Fries and Ice Cream

I absolutely blame McDonald’s for this. Most people who order at McDonald’s get a combo meal with fries. If they opt for dessert, they almost certainly will get a Sundae. Oh, but this fries is too hot and salty and this sundae is too cold and sweet. Oh, I know!

Our fears, failures and sense of abandonment

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

THAT rather amusing gospel story of the apostles frozen with fear when they were in the middle of a raging sea and saw a figure that later turned out to be Christ walking on the water (cfr. Mk 6,45-52) tells us what to do with our unavoidable fears and failures. We need to develop a healthy sense of abandonment in the ever solicitous providence of God over our life.

To be sure, Christ never fails us, though, again, his ways may not be what we expect or even want. What we have to do is to develop the habit of always referring everything to God, especially when we find ourselves in situations of fear and helplessness. He is always there for us.

We need to know how to handle and deal with our fears that are unavoidable in our life. Fear is an emotion that we need to educate also. It just cannot be on its own, guided only by our spontaneous judgments and reactions, and appearing when it’s not supposed to, and not appearing when it’s supposed to. It has to be grounded and oriented properly, expressing the sublimity of our dignity as persons and children of God.

Let’s remember that among the gifts of the Holy Spirit is the fear of the Lord. It’s the good and healthy fear of a child who is afraid to offend his father. It’s a filial fear, not a servile one. It’s one that, instead of being tempted to run away from God, would rather motivate one to get closer to him. It’s the fear of losing God, even if we may have offended him and have to do something to atone and repair.

With all the things that we have to contend with in this life, we certainly need to have a healthy sense of trust in God’s loving and wise providence, abandoning ourselves in his will and ways that often are mysterious to us and can appear to be contrary to what we would like to have.

A healthy spirit of abandonment in God’s hands is necessary even as we exhaust all possible human means to achieve our goals or simply to tackle all the challenges, trials and predicaments of our life. We should never forget this truth of our faith.

In this life, we need to acquire a good, healthy sporting spirit, because life is actually like a game. Yes, life is like a game. We set out to pursue a goal, we have to follow certain rules, we are given some means, tools and instruments, we are primed to win and we do our best, but losses can come, and yet, we just have to move on.

Woe to us when we get stuck with our defeats and failures, developing a loser’s mentality. That would be the epic fail that puts a period and a finis in a hanging narrative, when a comma, a colon or semi-colon would have sufficed.

We need a sporting spirit because life’s true failure can come only when we choose not to have hope. That happens when our vision and understanding of things is narrow and limited, confined only to the here and now and ignorant of the transcendent reality of the spiritual and supernatural world.

An indispensable ingredient of this healthy sporting spirit is the sense of acceptance and abandonment that we need to deliberately cultivate. This does not come automatically, as if it’s part of our genes. We have to develop them.

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

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

Davao de Oro welcomes 2022!

The Provincial Government of Davao de Oro welcomes the first official working day for the year 2022 thru a flag-raising ceremony and a holy mass at the Provincial Capitol Lobby on January 3, 2022.

Governor Uy in his message highlighted the achievements of the provincial government; a product of the bayanihan governance, which brought recognition in the province despite the challenges of pandemic.

The governor also cited that the provincial government will also extend help for the province of Bohol which was also affected by Typhoon Odette last year. It can be recalled that the province previously sent its ‘Walang Iwanan Team’ in Surigao City last December of 2021 to extend relief aids for the affected families by using its quick response fund amounting to 3 million pesos plus an additional in-kind donation from private donors.

The province will also heighten its vaccination roll-out, fixated on the goal of achieving herd immunity in the next month, getting ready for the threat of the new Covid-19 variant, the Omicron.

Further, an awarding ceremony was also held the same day giving recognition to 53 employees and 17 offices of the provincial government who passed the licensure examinations, graduating from master’s degree and other awards in the past year.

Among the highlighted awards are the End Hunger Program Team (National CSC Honor Awards Program Awardee), Oplan Liwanag Team (Regional CSC Honor Awards Program Awardee), E-Gov Technical Team (Regional CSC Honor Awards Program Awardee), and the Quality Management System Core Team.

A Mass and a convocation were also offered enjoined by Governor Tyron Uy, Senior Board Member Arturo Uy, Vice Governor Maricar Zamora, Congressman Manuel Zamora, Provincial Administrator Virgilia Allones, DILG Provincial Director Noel Duarte, CSC Davao de Oro Nelly Esperanza, and employees of the provincial government.

Thankful for all the achievements in the year 2021, Gov. Uy emboldens governance with humility, empathy, appreciation, respect, and trust for a better Davao de Oro. (JA, PAO-IPRD)

Philippines now at ‘high risk’ for Covid-19

(Photo: file)

 

By: LAUREEN MONDONEDO-YNOT, SunStar Manila

THE Philippines has now been classified as “high risk” for coronavirus disease (Covid-19), with the Department of Health (DOH) noting a positive two-week growth rate, an official said Monday, January 3, 2022.

In a media forum, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that as of January 2, 2022, epidemic curves showed that the average daily cases have declined since September, but the current average daily cases have increased significantly by 570 percent this week (December 20-January 2), which is seven times higher than in previous weeks.

She added that the major island groups in the country are also starting to show signs of increasing cases, while the National Capital Region (NCR), which has been placed under Alert Level 3 from January 3 to 15, 2022, showed a “sharp uptick” in cases in the recent weeks.

“There was a positive two-week growth rate at 222 percent and moderate risk average daily attack rate of 1.07 cases for every 100,000 individuals in the recent weeks,” she said.

Vergeire added that cases in the recent one-week also showed a positive increase.

She said, though, that the national health systems capacity remained at low risk, with total bed utilization at 18 percent and intensive care unit (ICU) utilization at 22 percent.

In the NCR, she said while the one-week and two-week growth rate are considered “high risk,” the health system capacity remains to be under 50 percent utilization.

Aside from NCR, five other regions -- Calabarzon, Central Luzon, Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao and Davao Region -- also showed a positive one-week and two-week growth rates.

“These regions are low to moderate risk case classification. The rest of the regions show positive increase in cases only in the recent one week,” said Vergeire.

She added that the healthcare utilization rate in all regions remain to be at low risk.

“As of January 1, the national healthcare utilization remains to be at low risk at 18 percent. This is two percent higher than the reported utilization rate last December 25 or one week prior, which was at 16 percent,” Vergeire said.

As to the number of individuals testing positive for the virus, Vergeire said an increase in cases, as well as in positivity rate was seen across all regions.

The largest increase was for NCR, where numbers jumped from 932 to 13,756 for the recent week, she said.

Calabarzon, meanwhile, had 2,792 individuals testing positive from just 290 in the previous week.

Hospital admissions also increased by nine percent, while allocated beds decreased by two percent or 883 beds.

In NCR, while total bed utilization remains to be at low risk at 24 percent, admissions are seen to be increasing in the recent week

“Over the course of one week, the NCR saw a 49 percent increase in admissions accompanied by a one percent or 86 bed increase in allocated beds,” Vergeire said.

The DOH continued to remind the public to observe the minimum public health standards to prevent the increase in the number of Covid-19 cases.

A MISTAKEN BELIEF

A mistaken belief accompanies each and every one of us daily. Incorrect decisions and wrong doings are part of our daily life.

It is almost a ridiculous fact that man wants to know certain truths about mundane things. But really he seems least interested in even mundane truths as can be read many times in newspapers for example. There seem to be too many rash judgments, and the readers absorb these and make these their own. A fatal attraction!

This is sometimes referred to as journalistic mentality wherein accusations are generously made without proof. Evolution started this trend, when scientists stated for example that man evolved from the apes, without proof. The only proof they had was the missing link, and if I am not mistaken, it's still a missing proof until now.

To look for proofs is a mental activity, which is no longer a common thing nowadays, because it takes really time, effort and is too serious to think about. Yet in Christian education, thinking right is very important.That's why Philosophy is important in Christian life. To avoid error in thinking, the rules of right reasoning must be studied and mastered. Is it really totally neglected in today's modern education?

Thinking is actually an enjoyable activity but when one is pressured to get a good job for one's sustenance, then the other more mundane becomes attractive. After all, great thinkers often do not get (good?) jobs... .

Spiritual writers like the British Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) noticed that mankind had stopped thinking even two centuries ago. That was during his age. Man probably stopped thinking even earlier. He has ceased many times to search for the truth. It's easier to listen to gossip and believe in it. What a sign of weak minds!

Too often are we blind to the truth and as a consequence we easily believe in lies we only have to like it. Too bad, if people always like to close their eyes and ears especially while experiencing the delusion of error.

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Ad multos annos? No, just for 2022: Happy New Year to all of you, my dear reader. May the Lord shower you with all his blessings. Sursum corda! Let's lift up our hearts!