Sunday, February 5, 2023
manilastandard.net
ADVERTISEMENT
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
  • Others
    • Pets
    • Pop.Life
      • Newsmakers
      • Hangouts
      • A-Pop
      • Post Its
      • Performances
      • Malls & Bazaars
      • Hobbies & Collections
    • Technology
      • Gadgets
      • Computers
      • Business
      • Tech Plus
    • MS ON THE ROAD
      • Sedan
      • SUV
      • Truck
      • Bike
      • Accessories
      • Motoring Plus
      • Commuter’s Corner
    • Home & Design
      • Residential
      • Commercial
      • Construction
      • Interior
    • Spotlight
    • Gallery
      • Photos
      • Videos
    • Events
      • Seminars
      • Exhibits
      • Community
    • Biyahero
      • Travel Features
      • Travel Reels
      • Travel Logs
  • Advertise with Us
No Result
View All Result
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
  • Others
    • Pets
    • Pop.Life
      • Newsmakers
      • Hangouts
      • A-Pop
      • Post Its
      • Performances
      • Malls & Bazaars
      • Hobbies & Collections
    • Technology
      • Gadgets
      • Computers
      • Business
      • Tech Plus
    • MS ON THE ROAD
      • Sedan
      • SUV
      • Truck
      • Bike
      • Accessories
      • Motoring Plus
      • Commuter’s Corner
    • Home & Design
      • Residential
      • Commercial
      • Construction
      • Interior
    • Spotlight
    • Gallery
      • Photos
      • Videos
    • Events
      • Seminars
      • Exhibits
      • Community
    • Biyahero
      • Travel Features
      • Travel Reels
      • Travel Logs
  • Advertise with Us
No Result
View All Result
manilastandard.net
No Result
View All Result
Home Opinion Columns Eagle eyes by Tony La Vina

Advent and informed hope

Tony La ViñabyTony La Viña
November 28, 2020, 12:05 am
in Eagle eyes by Tony La Vina
Reading Time: 3 mins read
A A
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Email

Advent and informed hope"Our hope is grounded on the love of an all-powerful God who loves us completely and unconditionally."

 

Almost a year since the outbreak of the COVID pandemic, people have become so weary observing health protocols and movement restrictions. A general sense of fatigue and resignation is infecting most, prompting more and more people to venture out of their homes as more businesses begin to reopen. As a result, many flout health measures despite warnings from health authorities not to let our guard down because the virus is still present and lurking to pounce on its next victim or victims. The atmosphere is so desolate and downcast so that many may be wondering whether it is ever fitting to be joyful, much less celebrate Christmas.

The Gospel reading for this first Sunday of Advent gives us a renewed impetus to truly welcome Christ with joyful hearts and not brood on the unhappiness and difficulties of the moment. The constant message of the One who was incarnated is a message of hope and peace.

In the scripture, Jesus enjoins his disciples to be alert and vigilant because the Lord is coming. Surely, this is the time for prayerful vigilance because God will touch our hearts and minds to demonstrate his guiding presence. He comes not yesterday, not tomorrow, but today, now! The one true God.

Even as we are grappling with the pandemic and many natural as well as man-made calamities, the Lord comes, for he is not a detached or unconcerned God, but a God who abides by and in us even during the most difficult of times.

ADVERTISEMENT

More than a time for vigilance and renewed commitment to the Lord, the season of Advent is a time for joy and salvation. For in this season, we welcome the mystery of the Word Incarnate who brought us the light of salvation. It is thus but fitting that we likewise incarnate this mystery in our lives and radiate this light amidst the darkness engulfing the world right now because of sin, apathy, and indifference, injustice, and sickness.

As Saint John Henry Newman reminded us in a homily for the Advent Season: “Advent is a time of waiting, it is a time of joy because the coming of Christ is not only a gift of grace and salvation. It is also a time of commitment because it motivates us to live the present as a time of responsibility and vigilance. This “vigilance” means the necessity, the urgency of an industrious, living ‘”wait.”

To make all this happen, then we need to wake up, as we are warned by the apostle to the Gentiles, in today's reading to the Romans: “Besides this you know what hour it is, how it is full time now for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed (Rm 13:11).”

Pope Francis pointed out how Advent informs the nature of the human journey two-fold – first as a journey to rediscover God and second, God’s journey to embrace his beloved people. This journey never comes to an end. Just as in each of our lives, we always need to begin again, to get up again, to rediscover the meaning of the goal of our lives, so also for the great human family it is always necessary to rediscover the common horizon toward which we are journeying. For the Vicar of Christ, this is the horizon of hope, the horizon that makes for a good journey.

According to the Pope, the model of this spiritual disposition, of this way of being and journeying in life, is the Virgin Mary. A simple girl from the country who carries within her heart the fullness of hope in God! In her womb, God’s hope took flesh, it became man, it became history: Jesus Christ. Her Magnificat is the canticle of the People of God on a journey, and of all men and women who hope in God and in the power of his mercy.

We can only truly understand the essence of Christ’s coming this Advent, despite the pain and suffering brought about by the pandemic and calamities that visit us, if we stay alert and able to recognize even the smallest sign of the Lord’s coming because we don’t know the hour in which He will arrive. If we stay alert and vigilant to protect our communities against COVID infection, the more reason should we be sensitive and cognizant of the reality of the Lord’s coming so that we can meaningfully and truly experience the joy of this season.

In seeing the meaning of Advent, our hope is not naïve but is informed, grounded on the love of an all-powerful God who loves us completely and unconditionally.

Website: tonylavina.com Facebook: deantonylavs Twitter: tonylavs

Tags: Advent SeasonCovid pandemichealth protocolsSaint John Henry Newman
ADVERTISEMENT
Tony La Viña

Tony La Viña

Related Posts

The ICC and Duterte, the next phase

byTony La Viña
February 4, 2023, 12:05 am
0
8
Denying Villafuerte justice

"The International Criminal Court can only intervene where a State is unable or unwilling genuinely to carry out the investigation...

Read more

Victory for press freedom

byTony La Viña
January 31, 2023, 12:10 am
0
8
Denying Villafuerte justice

"May the free press win in all these cases" Rappler Holdings Corporation and its president Maria Ressa have been acquitted...

Read more

Justice delayed is justice denied (Part 2)

byTony La Viña
January 28, 2023, 12:10 am
0
8
Christmas path to peace

"The basic principle is that no one should be deprived of liberty unless there has been a trial and final...

Read more

Gigi Reyes and everyone’sright to speedy trial

byTony La Viña
January 24, 2023, 12:10 am
0
8
Denying Villafuerte justice

"The SC said while Reyes’ detention is based on a court order, her prolonged detention, without any progress on the...

Read more

Attacking human rights defenders

byTony La Viña
January 17, 2023, 12:10 am
0
8
Denying Villafuerte justice

"The story of Dyan and Armand ended well but others will not be too lucky in the future until the...

Read more

Protest, petition, passion and praise

byTony La Viña
January 14, 2023, 12:10 am
0
8

"These days, it’s San Francesco’s praise for suffering, sickness, and death—lines he added to the canticle when he became sick...

Read more

Print Edition

View More

Recent Posts

  • Can Beyonce finally take home the top Grammy?
  • Queen of the arts
  • Vancouver… in Washington?
  • Rediscovering Makati’s hip and happening side 
  • Fall in love with City of Dreams’ seductive gastronomic offerings
  • IWF wins cement Diaz’s 3rd Athlete of Year award
  • Cavitex nails 1st PBA 3×3 title
  • PNVF names men’s pool members ahead of camp

Advertisement

Latest News

IWF wins cement Diaz’s 3rd Athlete of Year award

byManila Standard Sports
February 5, 2023, 8:20 pm
0
8
All set for Army Navy Club200 Endurance Race on Feb. 11

Hidilyn Diaz is still dominant as ever. More than a year since giving the Philippines its first gold medal in...

Read more

Cavitex nails 1st PBA 3×3 title

byManila Standard Sports
February 5, 2023, 8:11 pm
0
8
Cavitex nails 1st PBA 3×3 title

LEG 4 of the PBA 3x3 belonged to Cavitex as it pulled off a 19-15 win against Pioneer Elastoseal for...

Read more

PNVF names men’s pool members ahead of camp

byManila Standard Sports
February 5, 2023, 8:10 pm
0
8
All set for Army Navy Club200 Endurance Race on Feb. 11

The Philippine National Volleyball Federation announced on Sunday the members of the national men’s pool from which the national team...

Read more

Beermen hold ground, edge Hotshots for 4th win

byManila Standard Sports
February 5, 2023, 8:08 pm
0
8
Beermen hold ground, edge Hotshots for 4th win

By Peter Atencio The San Miguel Beermen stood their ground in the last 90 seconds to escape with a 100-98...

Read more

Cañiza Women’s Open tennis
unwraps with mixed cast

byManila Standard Sports
February 5, 2023, 8:00 pm
0
8
All set for Army Navy Club200 Endurance Race on Feb. 11

Women's tennis gets a big boost as the Rina Cañiza Women’s Open gets going Monday with a mix of veteran...

Read more

Advertisement

ADVERTISEMENT
Facebook Twitter Instagram Youtube

ABOUT US

Manila Standard

Manila Standard website (manilastandard.net), launched in August 2002, extends the newspaper’s reach beyond its traditional readers and makes its brand of Philippine news and opinion available to a much wider and geographically diverse readership here and overseas.

Digital Edition

In tone and content, the online edition mirrors the editorial thrust of the newspaper. While hewing to the traditional precepts of fairness and objectivity, MS believes the news of the day need not be staid, overly long or dry. Stories are succinct, readable and written in a lively style that has become a hallmark of the newspaper.

Download – Today’s Paper

Search

No Result
View All Result

6th Floor Universal Re Bldg., 106 Paseo De Roxas cor. Perea Street, Legaspi Village, 1226 Makati City Philippines

Trunklines: 832-5554, 832-5556, 832-5558

© 2021 Manila Standard - Designed and Developed by Neitiviti Studios.

No Result
View All Result
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
  • Pop.Life
    • Newsmakers
    • Hangouts
    • A-Pop
    • Post Its
    • Performances
    • Malls & Bazaars
    • Hobbies & Collections
  • Technology
    • Gadgets
    • Computers
    • Business
    • Tech Plus
  • MS ON THE ROAD
    • Sedan
    • SUV
    • Truck
    • Bike
    • Accessories
    • Motoring Plus
    • Commuter’s Corner
  • Home & Design
    • Residential
    • Commercial
    • Construction
    • Interior
  • Spotlight
  • Gallery
    • Photos
    • Videos
  • Events
    • Seminars
    • Exhibits
    • Community
  • Biyahero
    • Travel Features
    • Travel Reels
    • Travel Logs
  • Pets
  • Advertise with Us

© 2021 Manila Standard - Designed and Developed by Neitiviti Studios.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Install Manila Standard Web App

Install App