RID YOURSELF OF WORRY

By TIM PEDROSA

We cannot change the past, but we can ruin the present by worrying over the future. Whatever happens, happens for a reason. Greet each day with the belief that wonderful things are about to happen. Don’t worry for tomorrow, for tomorrow shall take care of itself. Let’s not be anxious about anything. When life becomes troublesome and worries crowd our day, let those heartaches blow away. Once we have started seeing the beauty of life, ugliness and troubles start disappearing. If we start looking at life with joy, sadness starts fading. We cannot have heaven and hell together, we can have only one. No matter what happened, no matter what looms ahead, if we can eat today, let’s enjoy the sunlight, mix good cheer with friends, let’s enjoy it and thank God for what we have; trust Him for what we need. We have a lot to be thankful for. The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future or anticipate troubles but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestlyt- Buddha. Here are some beautiful words of wisdom. We have nothing to do with tomorrow until we get to it. When the day comes with its cares, then we may meet them and then God will provide for them. Duty only is ours, the faithful, diligently doing of God’s will day by day. The rest is God’s and anxious care is unbelief. Worry is like a rocking chair. It will give us something to do, but it won’t get us anywhere. Where there is worry, there cannot be any rest or comfort. Where there is fear there cannot be any peace. Here are some suggestions to get rid ourselves of worry. Write it down. Acknowledging your worry takes away its obsessive power. So make a list of what’s bugging you. Say a prayer. Ask God for help, patience and the strength to get through your troubles. Do something. Clean out your closet, reorganize a roo , write a letter or ake a phone call you ve been putting off. ou ll feel better just getting something done. Read a book about someone else’s troubles (to take your ind off your own , so ething uplifting or funny, or even a self-help book for advice. Take a break. For 10-15 minutes, sit with your eyes closed in a quiet spot. Mentally make a list of blessings in your life; good health, plenty of food in the refrigerator, friends and family, nice weather, anything you can think of. Take a walk. Movement is action. With any luck, the exercise will clear your mind and raise your endorphin levels at the same time. Getting out in the sun will lift your spirits too. Let it go. For a day or even just a few hours, do something you enjoy. Try to refresh your mind and see things in a new light. Don’t worry –your problems will still be there when you get back. Ask for help. Ask your spouse, friend, sibling or family for ideas on how to get past the obstacles in your life. It’ll remind you that others have gotten through the same problems before and hopefully give you some useful advice. Sometimes you just have to stop worrying, wondering, and doubting. Have faith that things will work out, maybe not how you planned, but just how they’re meant to be. Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow – Swedish Proverb.

Pilate’s Situation

Pilate is remembered not for whatever he has done good but for the bad, the condemnation of Jesus to be crucified. e could have saved esus from dying, since he knew Jesus was innocent; but still decided to take no action against the people’s clamor which was in uenced greatly by the leaders of the people. What could be the factors in Pilate’s life that led to this point? Dear reader, what would you and I do if we could have been in Pilate’s position?

Pontius Pilate’s military and political career must have been his priority. He could have willed not to let Jesus be condemned; but he wanted to have a good rapport with the people, so he has to do what they were asking him to preserve his personal image and good name not only before the people but most importantly towards the emperor. He must be said to be a good governor; so, he has to play a delicate balance between his own interests, the people’s demands, and the honor and respect he has for the emperor. As a military man himself, he must be strong willed, and he must destroy whatever threat or unrest there was happening to his jurisdiction.

Moreover, Pilate as a Roman, was a pagan. He was not inclined to believe in Jesus as the Messiah or Son of God Incarnate; even if, there was the information: “…have nothing to do with that man…(Mt. 2 1 , fro his wife. s a o an, ilate knew Caesar, the e peror, as god or like god Caesar is lord. is heart was e pty of faith in esus Christ. Dear reader, like Pilate, who may have learned about Jesus all in hear say that he did not actually witnessed esus iracles first hand, or listened to Him spoke or taught the people; yet, if we would be Pilate and knowing what we know now about the events, and whatever truths told to Pilate at that time, would we accept them as truths and to let us be converted and not condemn Jesus? We come to realize that when we are given situations to make decisions, we must decide always for what is right, for what is good. We cannot choose what is sinful and evil. We too can be multi-layered shells to cover our ego, vices, bad conduct, and bad attitudes, we keep justifying our inability to progress in spiritual life. Our multi-layered forms of reasoning, our laziness to study the teachings of our faith that we have less knowledge of, our complacencies in our spiritual life that even praying daily is an ordeal, our going to mass on Sundays or days of obligation many times considered a waste of time to go to church, and so on and so forth, with many factors devoid of the sense of God or sense of the divine in our life; these can be ways or elements that may hog us down, that hinder us to live fully our faith and love of God. This Lenten Season, we must make efforts to destroy all for s of sinfulness in our daily life be it s all bad habit or grave sinful conduct and mannerism; because, these lead us to be bad or behave in sinful way.

During this Lenten Season, we cannot take for granted our inabilities to do and live coherent to our faith. We cannot think less of our for s of ignorance, thinking that it is fine not to really exert effort in our spiritual life; after all, God is good and merciful. Let this Lenten Season be our opportunity to make amends in our life in the big ways in order to be pleasing to God. During this season, let us be vigilant against sin and strive fir ly towards growth in our friendship with ord esus.

We cannot be like Pontius Pilate who is remembered for the crucifixion and killing of the ord esus Christ rather, we are to be re ebered as one who strove to always bring to life Jesus in our behavior, in our lifestyle, in our relationships, and especially in our daily sanctification of life. If Pilate left us a legacy of bad example; we are to be good examples and leave behind as our legacy our lives as models of godly living and faithfulness to Lord Jesus Christ. Lord Jesus, make me never offend ou, but let e be docile to ou, so that in aking decisions and choices, I will always choose what is pleasing to God. Amen

Buko Melon Salad Recipe of the Week

uko elon alad. f you are looking for buko salad for your events but tired of the usual buko pandan salad try these buko and elon co bination topped with a buco melon sorbetes.

Ingredients:

2 pcs. buko, grated, buko water keep aside for other use pcs. elon, grated

3 cups condense ilk

1 cup all-purpose creamer

For the Ice Cream:

1.3 liters estle s uco elon orbetes ice crea

Method:

Co bine and ix thoroughly all the ingredients in a big bowl. Chill in a refrigerator until ready to serve.

First cruise ship docks at Puerto Princesa City seaport after 3 years

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan – This city’s tourism industry has received a major boost with the arrival of the first cruise ship in the country after three years due to the pande ic.

Seabourn Encore docked at the uerto rincesa City seaport, signaling the return of cruise ship touris since the onset of the Covid-19 health crisis in 2 2 .

The ship which ca e fro ingapore carried 12 passengers and 82 crew, 2 of who are ilipinos.

epart ent of Touris - i aropa egional irector enny allugna said the return of the cruise ship touris is a welco e develop ent as it is expected to aid the recovery of the country s econo y.

“Puerto Princesa is very fortunate with eabourn ncore. This is its first stop after sailing fro ingapore, allugna said in an interview.

ight now, there are already 22 scheduled cruise calls in Palawan and we are expecting 1 in i aropa with ore than , passengers plus the crew, so that’s around 60,000 arrivals ust for the cruise ships. That s a big develop ent for the depart ent, especially as we open our borders to foreign travelers, she added.

allugna said they will try to invite Touris ecretary a. speran a Christina rasco to welco e a bigger cruise ship scheduled to arrive in the city on arch .

he noted that they are targeting to have ore cruise ship arrivals this year.

re-pande ic, that was year 2 1 , we had 1 cruise calls for the entire country. This year, we are only in the first uarter and we already have confir ed 1 1 cruise calls. That s a very big boost to our touris industry, es- pecially with the depart ent targeting around . illion foreign tourist arrivals, she said. eanwhile, City Touris epartent chief e etrio lvior r. said the return of the cruise ship will further boost the recovery of Puerto rincesa s touris industry. e re happy because our city is their priority as destination, and we expect this to be ust the start. t s a a or boost to our touris industry. uring the pande ic, we expected to recover in three to four years. ith this develop ent, we are expecting to recover econo ically uch faster, lvior said. ur regional director is working on the return of direct flights fro avao, iargao, lo-ilo and Clark. t will be a big help for the recovery of our touris industry, lvior said. ayor ucilo ayron, on the other hand, said it is an honor for the city to be the first port of call for a cruise ship in the country. e said he is expecting cruise ship touris to play a big role in the city s econo y. e are pro ecting that there will be more to come that’s why we reuested the epart ent of ublic orks and ighways to construct a bigger cruise port the - eter port in uito. This cruise ship industry is a big help in our econo y, ayron said. erald Ticke

While the industry has yet to fully return to its pre-pande ic status, he said the recovery is going faster than expected.

He, however, said that connectivity in the city is not yet in full swing as ights are still li ited.