The Lord’s Epiphany: its implications

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

THE Solemnity of the Lord’s Epiphany reminds us that Christ is meant for all of us, and not just a few, and like the 3 magi, we should make an effort to look for him, that is, to look for God, in everything in our life—in the persons we meet, in the different situations, conditions and circumstances of our life.

To be sure, God is everywhere. This is how one of the psalms describes this reality: “Whither shall I go from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.” (139,7-10)

More than that, God’s presence is not merely passive but active. He is always intervening in the existence of all the creatures, ever applying his wisdom through the ceaseless providence that he exercises over all his creation whose nature he always respects, upholds and defends.

And we should not worry too much about the effort involved here because just like what happened to the magi, we would also be helped and led by a star that is none other than our Christian faith, and the many instrumentalities that the Church provides. 

We may not see its light from time to time for one reason or another, but there is no doubt that it is always there. We just have to learn to live with that condition, unafraid in pursuing God’s will no matter what the cost. We just have to learn how to use the means provided to us.

We obviously have to be wary of the unavoidable villains along the way. The Herod of that time can be our own weaknesses, the intoxicating allurements of the world and the wiles of the devil. But as long as we realize that we need to wage a lifelong process of ascetical struggle, then things would just be all right.

Like the magi too, let us offer the best gifts we can give back to God who actually has given us everything that is good for us. We have to learn to repay love with love. We have been freely given, and so we have to learn how to freely give ourselves to God and to the others.

And the best gift we can give him, far beyond what the magi offered, are our own very selves, our whole heart. God himself wants it that way, as one passage in the Book of Proverbs puts it: “My child, give me your heart, and let your eyes delight in my ways.” (23,26) Of course, Christ himself articulated it more directly when he said, “Love the Lord our God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Mt 22,37) 

Lastly, with the celebration of the Solemnity of the Epiphany of Christ, we are actually left with an invitation that can very well be a big challenge for us who profess to believe in Christ. This is none other than the duty to show or reveal Christ, as he is, to others.

This is no mean responsibility to be carried out by us who are his disciples. The ideal to aim at is to have those words of Christ to his disciples said of us as well: “He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me. He who rejects me rejects him who sent me.” (Lk 10,16)

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

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

Asia remembers ex-pontiff Benedict as theologian with deep spirituality

Church and political leaders in Asia paid tributes to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, hailing him for his contributions to peace, harmony, and dialogue in the world.

The former pope died of age-related complications on December 31. He was 95.  A prominent theologian and academic, Benedict made history by becoming the first pope to resign in six centuries, leading to a conclave that elected Pope Francis.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Pope Benedict will be "remembered for his rich service to society." Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina hailed Pope Benedict’s non-violent policy and establishment of universal peace. Pakistan President Arif Alvi praised the late pope for his efforts for peace, harmony, and interfaith dialogue, and for his strong advocacy for refugees and migrants.

Park Jeong-ha, a spokesperson for South Korea’s ruling People Power Party, said Pope Benedict’s resignation was “a symbol of the renovation of the Church” while adding that he led “a life as a pilgrim.” Indonesia’s Minister of Religion Affairs Yaqut Cholil Qoumas said Pope Benedict was an example of humility and committed to bridging differences.

Asia remembers ex-pontiff Benedict as theologian with deep spirituality

Pope emeritus Benedict XVI attends a papal mass for elderly people at St Peter's square on September 28, 2014 at the Vatican. (Photo: AFP)

Meanwhile, at least 15 cardinals from Asia attended the funeral of Pope Benedict at the Vatican on Thursday.

It was an unprecedented ceremony in six centuries as a reigning pope led the requiem procedure for his predecessor. Besides the cardinals, most heads of Asia’s national bishops’ conferences also joined the global Catholic hierarchy for the funeral of the late pope.

The body of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI lies in state at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, on Jan 3. Benedict, a conservative intellectual who in 2013 became the first pontiff in six centuries to resign, died on Dec. 31, 2022, at the age of 95. (Photo: Alberto Pizzoli/ AFP)

ZU WARM, ZU NASS, KAUM SCHNEE|

 

Deutschlands traurigste Skipiste

Ein schmaler Streifen Schneematsch: Gestatten - die Skisaison 2023. Die beliebte Talabfahrt am Nebelhorn in Oberstdorf- derzeit vermutlich die traurigste Ski-Piste Deutschlands. Statt Winterwunter ganz viel grün im Allgäu. Statt rasanten Abfahrten unfreiwilliges Slalomfahren um die Erdlöcher, statt Rodelspaß Schlitten mit Handbremse.  Pisten-Tristesse bei Temperaturen im zweistelligen Bereich. Es geht fast nichts für Wintersportfans. Ein Blick auf die Allgäuer Webcams enthüllt die katastrophale Schnee-Situation - bzw. Nicht-Schnee-Situation.  Ausweichen in die Schweiz, nach Österreich oder Frankreich: auch problematisch. Das Ski-Trauerspiel zieht sich länderübergreifend quer durch den ganzen Alpenraum. Schockierende Aufnahmen aus diesem französischen Skigebiet (ORTSMARKE: Morzine, Frankreich). Eine Tempo-Abfahrt und immer wieder reißt die Schneedecke auf. Die Pisten-Schneeverhältnisse zum Skifahren sind nicht nur schlecht, sie sind gefährlich, das Verletzungsrisiko ist groß.  Ohne Schneekanonen lässt sich die Skisaison aktuell kaum retten, doch die verbrauchen viel Energie. Und selbst Nachts ist es z.B. hier in Oberstdorf zu warm zum Beschneien. Also bleiben die Kanonen aus. Das Resultat: Schmal-Spur-Spaß für Winterski-Fans auf der vielleicht traurigsten Skipiste Deutschlands.

Rosi Mittermaier verstorben

 

Mittermaier verliert Kampf gegen Krebs: Weihnachten feierte „Gold-Rosi“ noch mit der Familie. Die Sport-Welt weint. Gold-Rosi ist tot. Ski-Legende Rosi Mittermaier ist am Mittwoch im Alter von 72 Jahren in Garmisch-Partenkirchen an Krebs verstorben.

Maris Racal falls victim to virus ‘who viewed your profile’ link

By

 Jeline Malasig

 -

 January 6, 2023 - 11:35 AM

Maris Racal in this photo from her Instagram on Nov. 22, 2022 (Instagram/mariesteller) 

Actress-singer Maris Racal alerted online users about clicking a link on Twitter that unleashes spam posts on unsuspecting users.

The artist apologized to her 3.8 million followers for “incoming spam tweets” that they might encounter on their Twitter feed since she clicked a link claiming to know users who visited their profile.

“I clicked on this who visits your account thingy and virus pala siya,” she tweeted on Wednesday with an upside-down emoji. 

“Changed my password already. Hope that fixed it,” Maris added in another tweet.

Some Twitter users who read her post warned their mutuals about the spam.

Others claimed of encountering the similar link and spam tweets.

“OMG! Kaya pala may iba pa akong tweets na posted kanina tapos pare-parehas lang. ‘Wag na talagang ma-curious next time. Haha!” a Twitter user said, quote tweeting Maris.

“Kaya pala ‘yung iba sa feed ko [ulit ulit] ‘yung tweets about that who viewed their profile, ganon. Waaaa,” another online user responded.

The link in question has the name “askforme.me” and has the following thumbnail, as recently shared by a Twitter user:

In 2018, a lead malware intelligence analyst warned the public about the spam which lures users into thinking they will get to know who has visited their Twitter profiles.

“At the time of testing, all this [spam link] seemed to do was promote the app across timelines and encourage more installs, so the main aggravation here is the knowledge that you installed something useless, and then started beaming said uselessness to all of your contacts,” Christopher Boyd said.

“No matter how you come across these sites, we’d advise you not to bother giving these apps permission. The ‘See who visited you’ routine has been around for years on Twitter and Tumblr, and going even further back to Myspace. In all cases, none of these things ever seem to work and only serve to annoy, spam ads, or offer surveys,” he added.

Boyd said that users can remove the app by heading over to the Apps and Sessions tab on Twitter via Settings and Support > Settings and Privacy > Security and Account Access.

They can “revoke” an app’s permission through the “Connected Apps” tab.

Half of world’s glaciers expected to vanish by 2100: study

Published January 6, 2023, 8:06 AM

by Agence-France-Presse

WASHINGTON, United States — Half of the Earth’s glaciers, notably smaller ones, are destined to disappear by the end of the century because of climate change, but limiting global warming could save others, according to a new study.

In this file photo taken on September 21, 2021, an ice block drifts after breaking away from the Nordenskiold glacier, near Pyramiden, in Svalbard, a northern Norwegian archipelago. Half of the Earth’s glaciers, especially the smallest ones, are doomed to disappear because of climate change by the end of the century, a new study revealed on january 5, 2023, but limiting global warming to a minimum could still save the others. The work, published in the prestigious journal Science, provides the most accurate projections to date of the future of the world’s 215,000 glaciers. Olivier MORIN / AFP

The findings, published in the journal Science on Thursday, provide the most comprehensive look so far at the future of the world’s 215,000 glaciers. 

The authors emphasized the importance of restricting greenhouse gas emissions to limit the consequences from glacier melt such as sea level rise and depletion of water resources.

To help orient policy makers, the study looked at the impact of four scenarios on glaciers, where global mean temperature change is 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit), 2.0C, 3.0C and 4.0C.

“Every degree increase produces more melt and loss,” said Regine Hock of the University of Oslo and University of Alaska Fairbanks, a co-author of the study.

“But that also means if you reduce the temperature increase, you can also reduce that mass loss,” Hock told AFP. “So in that sense, there is also a little bit of hope.”

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Even if global temperature rise is limited to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels — the most ambitious goal of the Paris Agreement — the researchers estimated that 49 percent of the world’s glaciers would vanish by the year 2100.

That would represent about 26 percent of the world’s glacier mass because the smallest glaciers would be those first impacted.

Global mean temperature is currently estimated to be increasing by 2.7C which would result in a near-complete loss of glaciers in Central Europe, Western Canada and the continental United States and New Zealand.

“Regions with relatively little ice like the European Alps, the Caucasus, the Andes, or the western US, they lose almost all the ice by the end of the century almost no matter what the emission scenario is,” Hock said. “So those glaciers, they’re more or less doomed.”

‘Up to the policy makers’ 

Under the worst-case scenario — global temperature rise of 4.0C — giant glaciers such as those in Alaska would be more affected and 83 percent of glaciers would disappear by the end of the century.

Glacier loss would also exacerbate sea level rise.

“The glaciers that we are studying are only one percent of all ice on Earth,” said Hock, “much less than the Greenland ice sheet and the Antarctic ice sheet.

“But they have contributed to sea level rise almost just as much as the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheet together in the last three decades,” she said.

Warming of 1.5C would lead to an increase in average sea levels of nine centimeters while temperatures 4.0C higher would cause 15 centimeters of sea level rise.

“It doesn’t sound very much, nine centimeters up to 15 centimeters,” Hock said, “but it’s not global sea level that is that much of a concern.

“It’s mostly associated storm surges,” she said, which have the potential to cause “a lot more damage.”

The disappearance of glaciers will also have an impact on water resources because they provide freshwater for some two billion people.

“The glaciers compensate for the loss of water in summer when it’s not raining much and it’s hot,” Hock said.

The study’s projections, which are more pessimistic than those of UN climate experts, were reached through observations of the mass of each glacier through the decades and computer simulations.

Despite the alarming findings, Hock said “it is possible to reduce the mass loss by human action.

BLACKPINK sets record as ‘Ddu-Du Ddu-Du’ MV reaches 2 billion views on YouTube

Published January 6, 2023, 8:26 AM

by Jonathan Hicap

K-pop girl group BLACKPINK set a new record with their music video “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du.”

On Jan. 4, “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du” reached two billion views on YouTube and set the record of becoming the first music video by a K-pop group to achieve the feat. 

BLACKPINK’s “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du” reached two billion views on YouTube on Jan. 4 (YG Entertainment)

The “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du” music video was released on YouTube on June 15, 2018 and it first set the record of becoming the first music video by a K-pop group to reach one billion views on Nov. 11, 2019, or one year and five months since its upload.

The two-billion feat for “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du” was achieved four years and six months after its release on YouTube.

“Ddu-Du Ddu-Du” is the main track of BLACKPINK’s first mini-album “Square Up” released on June 15, 2018.

According to YG Life, after its release, “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du” reached “perfect all-kill” status on music streaming sites in South Korea. It also reached 40th and 55th places, respectively, on Billboard 200 and Hot 100 Chart, and also achieved 500 million streams on Spotify.

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BLACKPINK completed 26 performances in 15 cities under their “Born Pink” world tour and they will head to Asia and Oceania including the Philippines.

Meanwhile, BLACKPINK’s Jisoo will have her solo debut this year.

In YouTube’s most viewed music videos in the first 24 hours of release, BLACKPINK and member Lisa occupy four in the top 10.

YouTube’s All-Time Top 24 Hour Music Debuts as of Jan. 3, 2023:

1. BTS (방탄소년단) ‘Butter’ Official MV – 108.2 million views

2. BTS (방탄소년단) ‘Dynamite’ Official MV – 101.1 million views 

3. BLACKPINK – ‘Pink Venom’ M/V – 90.4 million views

4. BLACKPINK – ‘How You Like That’ M/V – 86.3 million views

5. BLACKPINK – ‘Ice Cream (with Selena Gomez)’ M/V – 79.0 million views

6. BTS (방탄소년단) ‘작은 것들을 위한 시 (Boy With Luv) (feat. Halsey)’ Official MV – 74.6 million views

7. LISA – ‘LALISA’ M/V – 73.6 million views

8. BTS (방탄소년단) ‘Permission to Dance’ Official MV – 72.3 million views

9. BTS (방탄소년단) ‘Life Goes On’ Official MV – 71.6 million views

10. Taylor Swift – ME! (feat. Brendon Urie of Panic! At The Disco) ft. Brendon Urie – 65 million views

 

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PhilHealth contribution hike freeze a relief for members

Published January 6, 2023, 12:05 AM

by Manila Bulletin

The decision of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to suspend implementation this month of the scheduled increase in Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) premium rate and income ceiling is a welcome development.

Coming at a time when we are still reeling from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, it provides much needed relief, albeit temporary, for PhilHealth members who continue to deal with financial and medical challenges.

“In light of the prevailing socio-economic challenges brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, and to provide financial relief to our countrymen amid these difficult times, please be informed that the President has directed the PhilHealth to suspend the above-mentioned increase in premium rate and income ceiling for Calendar Year 2023,” a PhilHealth statement said. 

Without the suspension, PhilHealth premium rate is supposed to increase from 4 percent to 4.5 percent and the income ceiling from ₱80,000 to ₱90,000 this year as mandated by Section 10 of the Universal Health Care (UHC) Act. The UHC law mandates a yearly increase in member’s premium by 0.5 percent starting in 2021 until it reaches the 5-percent limit in 2025.

Reacting to the suspension, PhilHealth said current benefits won’t be affected and will remain the same — an announcement that reassures members.

“Despite the suspension, PhilHealth operations will not be affected and will have no effect on the overall implementation of the National Health Insurance Program,” PhilHealth corporate communications manager Rey Balena said in a statement. “Even with the suspension, we want to assure the public that delivery of services will continue — no diminution of or cut in benefits.”

Welcoming the suspension of contribution increase, Senator Christopher “Bong” Go, chairman of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography, said Congress was successful in pushing for a ₱79-billion allocation for PhilHealth, thus, he sees no reason why this would negatively impact the benefits and services that the state health insurance agency provides its members.

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While the suspension of premium increase and income ceiling is a welcome development, members should temper their expectations.

The increase, being mandated by law, will eventually be collected sometime in the future much like the previous suspension.

While we rejoice now at the suspension, be ready to pay for the retroactive differential when time comes.

Government sees inflation's peak as it misses target for second straight year

Ramon Royandoyan - Philstar.com

MANILA, Philippines (Update 1, 11:04 a.m.) — Inflation accelerated to its fastest pace in 14 years in December, with the national government missing its annual target for the second straight year amid a supply-demand imbalance that has stoked painfully high price growth.

Inflation, as measured by the consumer price index, quickened to 8.1% year-on-year in December, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported Thursday. Data showed this was the fastest reading since November 2008.

For the entire 2022, inflation averaged 5.8%, way above the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ 2-4% target for this year. This means BSP Governor Felipe Medalla would have to explain to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who took office in June last year, why the inflation target was not met.

At the start of its term, the Marcos Jr. administration projected inflation would settle between 4.5-5.5% this year. But supply chain issues, expensive fuel prices, and a weak peso caused more problems than the government had thought they would. Economic managers later revised their annual inflation forecast to 5.8% in their year-end briefing. 

Core inflation, computed without volatile items such as fuel and food, rose to 6.9% year-on-year in December. 

Food prices were largely responsible for the uptick in December, peak spending season as Filipinos welcomed the holidays. National statisticians saw increases in the prices of vegetables (32.4%), rice (3.4%), and fruits and nuts (7.6%). 

The BSP, which aggressively hiked interest rates this year to temper resurgent demand and bring it in line with limited supply, projected inflation would peak in December. Likewise, the BSP expects inflation to slow down beginning in 2023.

Domini Velasquez, chief economist at China Banking Corp., said that while inflation likely peaked in December, "we are not out of the woods yet".

"In 2023, we expect inflation to breach the BSP’s target yet again, possibly higher than 5.0%. Key domestic risks are higher electricity and water tariffs, continued higher prices for food, and calls for wage and transport fare increases," Velasquez said.

"On the international front, oil prices will likely not fall as initially expected as China’s reopening will drive up demand for the commodity," she added.

BSP to stay hawkish?

National statistician Claire Dennis Mapa told journalists that the uptrend in food prices, especially vegetables, was due to typhoons that battered various parts of the country amid the monsoon season.

The inflation of vegetable prices averaged 7.8% in 2022. In December alone, vegetable inflation jumped 32.4% year-on-year, the highest since February 1999 when it hit 44%. The price of red onion, a staple vegetable that has proven to be more expensive by the day, increased in the weeks leading to December, according to the PSA’s monitoring.

Rice prices could see increases in the coming months as well. Regular rice, which cost P38 in 2021, rose to an average of P40 in 2022.

Even Noche Buena fixtures, such as ham (14.4%) and fruit cocktail (9.4%), saw prices shoot up in December.

The Marcos Jr. administration would need to mount a heftier policy response to inflation. Citing market force as largely responsible for the uptrend for most of the year, core inflation averaged 3.9% in 2022, an increase from the 3% average recorded in the preceding year. In 2019, this stood at 3.4%.

But analysts like Nicholas Antonio Mapa, senior economist at ING Bank in Manila, expect inflation to slow down this year.

“Storm damage to crops may have helped fan price pressures for basic food items but elevated transport and utility costs for nearly a year may have also contributed to price pressures spreading across the CPI basket.  Meanwhile, resurgent demand reflected in the stronger-than-expected GDP growth, fanned inflation even further with notable increases in inflation for the services sector,” he said in an emailed commentary.

The ING economist expects the BSP to keep a hawkish stance in the coming months.

Mapa also expects the BSP to match the US Federal Reserve’s moves to tame inflation. Experts everywhere expect the global economy to land face first into a recession in 2023, due in part to interest rate hikes by central banks.

“However, once the Fed carries out its much-anticipated ‘pivot’ we believe Governor Medalla could consider a pause of his own as policy rates are currently already in restrictive territory,” he added.

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