How can we be united?

This is a transcript of the video below:

Paano tayo magkakaisa? Para sa mabungang-buhay, tayo na po’t magkape’t pandasal.

May kasabihan tayo: “Ang sakit sa kalingkingan, sakit ng buong katawan.” Kapag nasaktan tayo, nararamdaman natin ang hapdi sa kasuluksulukan ng ating pagkatao. Hindi natin pinaghihiwalay ang mga parte sa kabuuan.

Plato, the Greek philosopher, pointed out that we do not say, “My finger has a pain,” rather, “I have a pain.” There is an “I” o merong “ako” na bumubuo sa lahat ng parte ng aking katawan.  

Wika ni San Pablo: “Sapagkat kung paanong ang katawan ay iisa, bagaman marami ang mga sangkap, gayundin naman si Cristo. Kayo nga ang katawan ni Cristo, at isa-isang sangkap niya.” Ang Panginoong Hesukristo ang “ako” na nagbubuo sa ating lahat. Samakatuwid, sa ating pagkakaisa inaasa ang katuparan ng pagbabago. Sa buong lupon nakasalalay ang kaligtasan ng buong bayan.

Kailangan natin ang isa’t isa. Hindi tayo mabubuhay kung wala ang kapwa. Manaig nawa ang respeto, sa gitna ng ating pagkakaiba. Lahat ng tao ay mahalaga. Ang lahat ng paglilingkod ay pantay-pantay sa paningin ng Diyos. Magdamayan tayo. Kapag nag-positive tayo sa Covid, apektado din ang lahat na nakasalamuha natin. Nagiging sanhi ka ba ng paghihiwalay, o ng pagkakaisa?

Manalangin tayo: O Diyos, sa pandemiyang pinaghihiwalay kami, higit mo kaming pagbigkisin sa pag-ibig Mo. Amen.

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How can we be united? For a fruitful life, join me in another episode of Coffee and Prayer. Kape’t Pandasal [Coffee and Prayer]

There is a saying, “The little finger’s pain is the whole body’s pain.” When we are hurt, we feel the pain in the deepest depths of our whole person. We cannot separate the parts from the whole. Plato, the Greek philosopher, pointed out that we do not say, “My finger has a pain,” rather, “I have a pain.” There is an “I”, a personality, that gives unity to all the parts of our body.

St. Paul said, “For just as the body is one, and has many members…so it is with Christ. You are the Body of Christ, and individually, members of it.”

1 Cor 12: 12, 27

The Lord Jesus Christ is the “I” that unites all of us. Therefore, it is in our unity that we hope for change. The salvation of the whole country depends on a united governing body.

We need each other. We cannot live without our neighbors. We ought to respect each other amid diversity. All peoples are important. All service ranks the same in the eyes of God. Let us sympathize with each other. If one person is Covid-positive, that person affects all those whom he or she have socialized with. Are you the source of division, or unity?

Let us pray: O Lord, while the pandemic separates us all, strengthen our bonds in your love. Amen.