Opinion

No doubt we have to learn how to contend with the different and even competing and conflicting elements in our life. We have our personal life as well as our family, professional, social, economic, and political life.There are things that need our immediate attention, and yet they should not derail us from our long-term and ultimate goal. There’s a lot more.We have to deal with many variables in life, and yet we should never forget the constants. We need to give due attention to both the incidentals and the essentials, giving them their proper ranking.There are things that are pressing and that have to be attended to right away, but these should not compromise what is truly precious in our life.This is not to mention that in our life, we have to unify and integrate the...

We all need to be reminded that all our suffering has a positive and favorable aspect. It’s not all entirely bad and negative, though in itself it will always be bad. But if viewed and lived through our Christian faith, there is something in it that can give us a greater good. We may refer to this advantageous aspect of suffering as the happy Good News or Gospel of Suffering.Our pains and suffering are always the result of sin, ours and those of the others. They are the necessary consequence of our separation, whether temporary or permanent, from God from whom all good things come. (cfr. Ps 16,2; James 1,17) We may not be the direct cause of our own suffering, but in this world, we cannot escape the effects of sin, and so we must be ready for them just the same.We have to remi...

Perhaps so if we look at a new study led by researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine that showed COVID-19 patients who were taking a daily low-dose aspirin (for cardiovascular disease) had a significantly lower risk of complications and death compared to those who were not taking aspirin.The researchers looked through the medical records of 412 COVID-19 patients, age 55 on average, who were hospitalized over the past few months due to complications of SARS-CoV-2 infection.About a quarter of the patients were taking a daily low-dose aspirin (usually 81 milligrams) before they were admitted or right after admission to manage their cardiovascular disease.The researchers found aspirin use was associated with a 44 percent reduction in the risk of being put o...

It was past midnight last Saturday when I chanced upon the news that Joe Biden is now the 46th elected president of the United States along with his running mate, California Senator Kamala Harris, now known as the first woman vice president.It was past midnight last Saturday when I chanced upon the news that Joe Biden is now the 46th elected president of the United States along with his running mate, California Senator Kamala Harris, now known as the first woman vice president.I’ve been closely watching the US elections and have been praying for Biden’s victory. Some might say, it is not our business. But somehow, a Biden win gives me renewed hope that it will be a wake-up call for us as well because what the Americans showed us was the election was all about character, truth, and...

I suppose everyone wants to have friends. It’s kind of difficult to imagine a person who does not like to have friends, since we, in general, are wired to be always in relation with others, and that relation, which can take many forms, is basically achieved through friendship.There is an old Roman definition of friendship that expresses it this way: “idem velle, idem nolle,” which roughly means, “the same desires or likes, the same dislikes.” In other words, friends are supposed to have such a union of wills that they would like the same things and would dislike the same things also.It’s a good definition, except that it has to be taken in its proper context. And that context is what God likes and dislikes. In other words, the union of wills should first begin with the union o...

As we approach the end of the liturgical year, the Church invites us to meditate on “the last things” (eschatology, in theological language), namely, death, judgment, heaven, and hell.Thus, the month of November started with the celebration of All Saints’ Day, followed by All Souls’ Day. In the weeks ahead, the liturgical celebrations will focus on themes about the end times and culminate with the Solemnity of Christ the King, bringing to a close the liturgical calendar. Christ is then presented as King, who comes again at the end of time to bring the kingdom of God to its fulfillment.Meditating on the eschatological realities may seem scary and gruesome, but it is actually helpful and healthy for the soul. Death is the most certain and inevitable reality in life, and on it ha...

This is something we have to be most discerning and careful about. We have to realize that there is such thing as an apparent good, which actually is not good but can look and smell like it is. We should do our best that we go always for the authentic good.And the authentic good can only come from God. The authentic good can only be obtained when everything that we do is done with God and for God. Thus, in that episode of ruler asking Christ how he could gain the eternal life, Christ said that good can only be one, and that definitely is God.Here is how that episode went. “A certain ruler asked him, ‘Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ ‘Why do you call me good?’ Jesus answered. ‘No one is good, except God alone.’” (Lk 18,18-19)And Christ proceeded by saying t...

The local economy is slowly opening up now that land and sea transportation are in operation with very minimal restrictions, except for the mandatory use of masks and face shields.Bacolod business leader Frank Carbon, said in an interview over Aksyon Radyo, that he is positive we are on our way to recovery. By merely opening up sea travel, Frank said some 400 jobs were revived as porters, tellers, and employees of food stalls are back to work.With the ports opening up, hotels are slowly opening their doors too and for as long as the local government units will not re-impose restrictive travel protocols, Frank sees the local economy back on its feet by the first quarter of next year.“It is encouraging because the business community are reinvesting and many tourism spots in the p...

The whole world is glued on who will win the US elections. By Wednesday evening, we will know whether the Americans will re-elect President Donald Trump or have had enough of him and install Democratic candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden.Across the US, especially in major cities that have seen riots and protests this year, businesses have boarded up and the National Guards are on stand-by to ensure that any violence will be quelled immediately.This scenario may not be farfetched as Trump has insinuated that he will question the legality of some mailed-in ballots and his defeat or that of Biden, might fuel unrest from their supporters.It has been an interesting campaign for both, not to mention the much-talked about presidential debates that have been a rich material f...

To go directly to the point, we can only find our true strength in Christ. There’s no other—no, not in some drugs, therapy, physical stamina, genes, etc. These things only give, at best, some temporary relief. They don’t last for long, and they don’t work all the time.This was affirmed by St. Paul and has been proven right in the lives of many saints and holy men and women through the ages. “I know how to live humbly, and I know how to abound,” St. Paul said. “I am accustomed to any and every situation—to being filled and being hungry, to having plenty and having need. I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” (Phil 4,12-13)Thus, St. Paul once said: “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsake...