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FlilAm...
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The Los Angeles “Simbang Gabi” is sponsored by Filipino Ministry of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles with His Excellency Archbishop Jose Gomez as presider. Other parish churches in the Archdiocese comprising 128 as of press time will participate in this Christmas tradition of Filipinos.
This year’s Los Angeles celebration will commemorate two landmark anniversaries among Catholics in Los Angeles. First, the 500th year anniversary of the gift of Christian faith to the Filipino people from Spanish missionaries who planted the Cross of Christ on Philippine soil during the celebration of the fi rst Mass on Limasawa Island on March 31, 1521. “Gifted to Give” is the theme chosen by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP). After 500 years, the evangelized Filipinos are recognized and called to evangelize others wherever they are.
Second, 2021 is the jubilee year celebrating 250 years of Catholic faith in Los Angeles on the anniversary of the founding of Mission San Gabriel Archangel, the fi rst church in what is now the Archdiocese. Simbang Gabi 2021 will be an occasion to respond to the Jubilee’s call to “raise up a new generation of missionary disciples.” “Gifted to Share the Light of Christ,” the theme of Simbang Gabi 2021 epitomizes the call to mission of both jubilees.
The celebration is replete with procession of parols or Christmas lanterns which makes the dawn masses a festive gathering of the faithful.
In Los Angeles and in several hundred other dioceses and parishes all over the United States, many pastors, most not even Filipino priests themselves, have fully embraced Simbang Gabi and have in fact made it a parish-wide celebration. Diocesan bishops support and encourage the devotion. They joyfully preside at either the opening or the closing Mass and mingle with the parishioners during the receptions.
In this country where Christmas has become a highly commercialized secular holiday, Simbang Gabi is a refreshing breath of fresh air which brings Jesus Christ back at the center of the Christmas season. Although Filipino Catholics are in the cusp of visibility in the American Catholic Church, this faithful community of Catholics have been grace-bearers to the Church in this country and elsewhere in the world.
For further details about the Los Angeles dawn masses, interested parties may contact Filipino Ministry liaison Rev Fr. Rodel Balagtas at ff rbalagtas@incaglendale.org, Simbang Gabi coordinator Myrna S. Legaspi @ 562-420-9483 or nanausa@gmail.com or Tom Lapidario at 562-347-5022 or laptom@yahoo.com. – denino1951@gmail.com
FilAms will mark the 11th year that the Filipino tradition will be held in San Rafael. There were no masses last year because of the pandemic.
Simbang Gabi in the church was fi rst introduced in 2009 by Fr. Feliciano Mofan of St. Isabella parish as a deep-rooted Filipino Christmas tradition. The Latins have the posada, the Western countries have Santa Claus, and the Filipinos have the Simbang Gabi.
In the home country Simbang Gabi is a series of 9-day early morning masses that start on December 16 and culminate on Christmas eve. It is when Catholic churches start to open their doors shortly before the break of dawn to welcome the faithful to attend the mass. It is also known in Spanish as Misa de Gallo, or “Mass of the Rooster” so-called because it is time in the morning when the roosters start to crow. It is also called Misa de Aguinaldo, “Mass of the Gift” who is Jesus Christ himself, God’s gift to human-
California...
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their second doses as another variant threatens to cause another surge in cases. California State Secretary of Health and Human Services Dr. Mark Ghaly gave assurance to the safety and effi cacy of the rollout in a media briefi ng Nuts & Bolts of California’s Vax Rollout for Kids 5-11 moderated by Regina Wilson by thee California Black Media and
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hosted by the Vaccinate all 58 with Stop the Spread COVID-19 as part of their public awareness campaign that came timely as the holidays approach and it is important that families are vaccinated and the community is protected against this deadly virus.
In California, the doses of the pediatric vaccines are to be given to children by up to 4000 providers that include big health systems like Kaiser, Dignity, local health centers, pharmacies, etc .
Earlier, trials for the vaccine included over 4,000 young children who were administered one-third of the dose of adult.
“The studies and trials that were done were robust to make sure this vaccine is safe and eff ective and they came together in rapid fashion recognizing the vaccines are the way through the pandemic. It is estimated that children in the 5-11 age group represents 9% of the entire population,” Ghaly stated. “The vaccine trial and study was conducted with the help of representative population from more region of the state, from all races and ethnicities, and young people with pre existing conditions.”
Of the hundreds of thousands of cases among young people in the country, around 60,000 of those hospitalized are in the 5-11 age group and more kids were lost to COVID than the other vaccine-preventable diseases
Ghaly shared that to convince others with hesitation, he asks those in doubt to compare the COVID vaccines with the other existing vaccines.
“How is this vaccine diff erent? why do we suddenly are we considering it in a diff erent way?. These the conversations that we should have, talk with the faith communities,” wondered Ghaly. ”My hope is that we are always thinking of the global protection that we are hoping to provide young people who are not without risk to go unvaccinated.
Ghaly added that they fear that peoity.
In the United States or elsewhere in the world where there are colonies of Filipinos, Simbang Gabi is celebrated in the evening in order to accommodate the needs of members of the community who have diff erent work schedules. No matter how and when this celebration is held the Simbang Gabi provides an indication of the depth of the Catholic faith among Filipinos who constitute 85% of the 105 million population. It is also an expression of sacrifi ce and dedication for it takes an amount of will and discipline to get out of bed so early in the morning to go to church in a dire wish to obtain special graces.
This tradition was introduced by the Creole friars in the Philippines in the 16th century. It manifested the devotional heritage of the Spanish friars sent to Christianize the Philippines, then a pagan country when Magellan, a Portuguese navigator under the employ of the Queen of Spain, discovered it in 1521.
The Catholic clergy in the Archdiocese of San Francisco, which includes Marin County, headed by Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, D.D. acknowledges the ever presence of Filipinos in church services. Filipinos are vital cogs of parish activities especially during the Christmas season.
ple who are not vaccinated will eventually get infected with COVID because it is such a transmissible virus prompting him to encourage to also connect with trusted Dr. Ghaly medical provider, family doctor, pediatrician, source of health information to get questions answered so they can get children vaccinated with great deal of confi dence.
Ghaly also advised that kids kids should get a fl u shot with the vaccine. There is no reason for them not to. We urge that they get them together.
Ghaly does not want to speculate this early if children will eventually be required to get booster shots because of how the COVID is evolving with the new variants that may be more transmissible.
“Now we are feeling confi dent with the level of protection for the next many many months investigative studies are ongoing just as for those in the adult level to make sure the strength of immunity that we depend on to prevent getting an infection or severe infection is provided to young people,” Ghaly explained...
The push by the State of California for vaccination of younger children came also after Center for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle P. Walensky, M.D., M.P.H., endorsed the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ (ACIP) recommendation that children 5 to 11 years old be vaccinated against COVID-19 with the Pfi zer-BioNTech pediatric vaccine.
