Hinimok ni Daet Bishop Rex Alarcon, D.D. ang mga Tomasino na tumugon sa tawag na dalhin ang Karunungang Kristiyano sa mga usapin ng Agham at Kultura.

Sa kanyang homiliya sa tradisyunal na Misa de Apertura na ginanap sa Parokya ng Santísimo Rosario kaninang umaga, ika-1 ng Agosto, kanyang hinimok ang mga guro at estudyante na gawing tulay ang kanilang mga aralin upang maintindihan hindi lamang ang kanilang mga sarili at ang mundo kundi pati na rin ang kalooban ng Diyos.

“That while we are students, and teachers, experts of the different sciences […], let us pray that these be pathways not only of understanding ourselves and the world but also of discerning the hand of God. Dear brothers and sisters, by doing well our educational mission and by opening ourselves to God, we allow the encounter of the Christian wisdom and the culture, particularly the culture of the young,” aniya.

Dagdag pa niya: “Being part of a Catholic University is to respond to the call not only of the sciences, the arts and the humanities, but also to answer the task of bringing the Christian wisdom in dialogue with the secular sciences and culture.”

Binigyang-diin rin niya ang gawaing kaakibat ng pagtuturo, pangangaral at pag-aaral, ang pagbuo ng Kristiyano at Katolikong kultura sa loob ng mga opisina at silid-aralan.

Higit pa, kanya ring nabanggit na mas dapat bigyang-pansin hindi lamang ang pagtuturo o ang pagkamit ng mataas ng bilang ng board passers kungi maging ang pagbubuo ng Katolikong kultura ng Unibersidad.

Kanya ring iginiit ang kahalagahan ng pananampalataya sa pag-aaral at pagtuturo, at ng karunungang makakakilala sa Diyos.

“As we seat now, may we recognize that it is not primarily our academic degrees that bind us together, but our faith. It is something that lies beneath our togas and our uniforms. And today, as we begin, we affirm that there exists a knowledge that is peculiar to faith, surpassing the knowledge proper to human reason which nevertheless by its nature can discover the Creator,” aniya.

“Would you find relief in economic theories, scientific formulas or the rules of grammar. Maybe. Would repeating mathematical or legal formulae bring you relief. Will a digital algorithm be a solution? Or would you rather find some light and consolation by praying the psalm? […] Dear brothers and sister, as we sharpen our intellect, let us cultivate our faith. Faith allows us or provides us an inner eye to the mysteries of life,” dagdag pa niya.

Nabanggit din niya na sa kabila ng kawalang-katiyakan at pagkalito dala ng “information explosion,” nararapat lamang na maging mas malapit sa sangkatauhan at magtulungan.

“We live in a time of information explosion. […] This also leads to confusion, ambiguity, and complexity. […] There is [a] divergence in our departmental culture, but we are called to work interdependently. In the face of this reality may we realize, however, that there is, in fact, only one culture: the culture of man. And that as we welcome the dawn of [the] fourth industrial revolution, all the more we see the need to get in touch with our humanity, our common humanity,” aniya.

Hinimok din niya ang mga Tomasino na palaging panatilihin ang malakas na pananampalataya sa paghahanap ng katotohanan.

“In the plurality of our cultures, we all share the same restlessness for the truth. May we all continue to sail, with the sail of the galleons, […] the waves will be bigger, but the hand of God is there,” aniya.

Dagdag pa ni Alarcon: “…May we never tire of kneeling in search [of] the truth, the transcendent truth. And we hope that one day we may come at last with the unending grace.

Si Alarcon ay nagtapos ng licenciate at masters in Theology sa UST at inordinahang obispo ng Diyosesis ng Daet noong Marso 2019.

Ang Misa de Apertura ay ang taunang tradisyon ng pagbubukas ng panibagong akademikong taon ng Unibersidad na sinusundan ng pagbabahagi ng Discurso de Apertura.

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The faithful were urged to imitate Mary’s obedience to God during the enthronement rites and mass for Nuestra Señora del Santissimo Rosario today, Thursday at the Santissimo Rosario Parish.

In his homily, Novaliches Bishop Emeritus Most Rev. Teodoro Bacani, Jr. D.D. said that we should listen and obey Mary for she is our queen and mother.

“The word mother is placed even before queen. She is indeed our queen but she is also our mother. The mother of the Son of God is also our mother. We ought to listen to her, to obey. What is she a queen for, what is she a mother for, if we do not obey?” said Bacani.

He added, “The greater reason for her blessedness was because she heard the word o God and said yes to it, not only with her lips but above all with her heart, with her actions.”

Bacani said that her obedience to her son can be seen during the wedding at Cana where she said to the servants to “Do whatever what my son tells you. Do whatever he tells you.”

Bacani added that Mary’s trademark response to God can be seen in the Annunciation story where she said, “I am the slavegirl of the Lord, be it done to me according to your word.”

“Mary stayed with the disciples in the upper room during Pentecost waiting for the Holy Spirit. And why did she stay? It was in obedience to the words of Jesus. She stayed until the Holy Spirit descended upon the land,” Bacani added.

Bacani also said that “The greatest of the crowns she have is when her children become her joy.”

“Love one another as I have loved you. That is what Mary desires also of her children. That they may be one. That is what Jesus desires of his brothers and sisters. That they may be one in God,” said Bacani.

At the end of his homily, Bacani urged the faithful to “Give our hearts while we live and until we die and our lives will be a gift to Jesus on earth as in heaven.”

Before the mass ended, Fr. Louie Coronel O.P., parish priest of Santissimo Rosario Parish led the traditional Dominican blessing of Roses which was later distributed to those who attended the enthronement mass.

According to Dominican tradition, blessed roses when kept may give divine protection to homes and cure for the sick, as it also represents the rosary.

The enthronement rites started with a procession at the UST Plaza Mayor joined by Thomasians from different colleges and faculties.

The said event marks the start of the nine day novena masses for Our Lady which will start tomorrow in preparation for the parish’s feast day on October 7.

This year’s fiesta the parish’s 76th year anniversary which also ends the three year celebration of the parish’s Diamond Jubilee Year.

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Hinimok ng UST Vice Chancellor ang Unibersidad noong Martes, Agosto 7, na ipagpatuloy ang gawain nitong paggabay sa mga Tomasino palapit sa Diyos.

Ayon kay Very Rev. Fr. Napoleon Sipalay, Jr., O.P., ang paggabay na ito ay gawain ni Santo Domingo de Guzman, ang ama ng Order of Preachers, noong nabubuhay pa siya.

“Nawa’y ang Unibersidad na ito ay patuloy na punan ang pangangailangan [na mas makilala ang Diyos] ng ating mga estudyante at ibigay ang sagot sa kanilang mga tanong sa sarili at sa mundong kanilang tatahakin,” aniya sa kaniyang sermon sa misang handog para sa pista ni Santo Domingo.

Pinuri rin ng Prior Provincial ng Dominican Province ng Pilipinas ang Unibersidad sa tuloy-tuloy nitong paglaganap ng salita ng Diyos sa pamamagitan ng edukasyon.

“Naniniwala ako sa ministeryong pangangaral dito sa [UST]. Ang prayoridad ng Dominikanong probinsya ng Pilipinas sa paglaganap ng ebanghelyo sa pamamagitan ng edukasyon, karamihan sa inyo ay katulong namin sa misyong ito,” sabi ni Sipalay.

Dagdag pa rito, ipinaalala niya sa mga Dominikano sa bansa na tularan ang ginawang pagsagot ni Santo Domingo sa pangangailangan ng mga tao sa kaniyang panahon.

“Tinugunan niya (Santo Domingo) ang mga pangangailangan ng kaniyang panahon, ito naman ang ating pagkakataon upang punan ang mga pangangailangan ngayon… Gawin natin itong paglilingkod na na ipinasa sa atin ni Dominic, ang pag bahagi ng magandang balita ni Hesus sa mundo,” aniya.

Dinaluhan ng mga pari, mga Dominikano, mga Tomasino at mga guro ang misang ginanap sa simbahan ng Santisimo Rosario bilang pagdiriwang sa pista ni Santo Domingo.

Ang pista ni Santo Domingo ay ginaganap tuwing ika-8 ng Agosto, ang pagkasilang niya sa Calaruega sa Espanya noong 1170. Walang pasok ang Unibersidad bukas upang ipagdiriwang ito. Beatrice Laforga

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