Places of worship
Next week, we are set to pause for All Saint's Day and All Soul's Day but things are not the same this year. IATF has issued a mandate to restrict entry to public cemeteries for the time being because of health protocols. While this is a welcome development to help stop the spread of COVID, it is a different feel for this year. No candles, no long lines at the cemetery entrance, no flowers to buy for the first of November.
It's just so contrary because they have allowed more people to enter places of worship in GCQ areas. That means, more people coming in and congregating. It is like we have forgotten how this all started. Well I guess we have learned our lesson by now and have placed mitigating measures to stop COVID. But still, we have to be extra cautious. But despite all the restrictions in mass gathering and congregating, I have come to realize that it’s not always about the place.
"I still talk to Jesus," said Paul Klein of the US band LANY. I guess we all do by this point at time. As for me, the pandemic has taught me to strengthen my faith in God without the physical presence of the Church. I have learned that we can always express our faith in the Lord even without being face to face with a priest or pastor. That's what we should keep in mind. It is not always about the congregation.
A lot of people are measuring faith by the number of good deeds that they have done. Which I think is not the basis for it. God already said that he loved us and saved us, no need to quantify how we love him back by whatever we are doing here on Earth. I felt the need to talk about this because the world is not in good shape today. Too much comedy from wrong decisions of politicians and the fight against the deadly virus continues. We want to open the economy so bad, but we can't even find a solution to stop the spread of the virus.
Negros Oriental had to close its doors once again because of an authorized person outside of residence who failed to strictly follow protocol upon arrival from Manila. We are too loose when it comes to our own officials but too stern on those who do not have much. We can only cry out to the Lord for help in this very hard to understand times. Well, it wouldn't matter now where or to whom. We just need to keep the faith, live it up because life goes on.
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