Greetings in the Lord!

Today is the fifth Sunday in ordinary time. Last Sunday we read about the teachings of Jesus in his eight (8) beatitudes preached on what we know today as the Mount of Beatitudes. These eight beatitudes, as I mentioned last Sunday as "the map to go" to heaven. This is the path on which we, the disciples of Jesus, must advance in order to faithfully and joyfully follow Jesus. And as I mentioned in my homily last Sunday, this map to follow demands of us, however, a radical conversion of ourselves to the life of discipleship that is completely different from the lifestyle the world offers us. By the way, poverty of spirit, humility, joy in suffering, being merciful, peace-loving and patient in the face of insult and persecution, are the virtues that a disciple of today's world must live and not skimp.

Today's Gospel tells us, now, what we should be in relation to others in the world. And I think the gospels of past Sundays, too, have some orientation in our relationship with others. After the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan where Jesus inaugurates his mission and ministry on earth, preaching about the Kingdom, the gospels first spoke about the need to bear witness to this Jesus who came to bring the message of salvation to all men. This witness to Jesus, however, demands a total conversion within

Aging

Continued from page 1 in the Multipurpose Senior Services Program (MSSP) and CommunityBased Adult Services (CBAS) program, as well as PACE program recipients. This augments billions of dollars invested in statewide broadband access.

A friend is a sky-diving, mountain-climbing, hang-gliding thrill-seeker, but in the cave he felt sheer panic. He was terrified. He tried fighting his fear, but he kept picturing his dead body moldering in the cave. Finally, he told his guide he was about to lose it, and the guide said, "Hey, close your eyes and listen to my voice. I will keep talking, calmly, and guide you through this. We will be okay. I have been here before. I will get you to the other side. But you must listen to my voice. It will not work for you to let your thoughts run wild. Just focus on my voice." He did so. What freed him from panic and fear was not trying hard to quit thinking fearful thoughts. It was listening to another voice.

What voice do you listen to when you're in the cave and it's dark, when the ceiling is low and you can't back out? The Spirit longs to flow in our minds all the time. One reason why people have found memorizing Scripture helpful is that it helps us listen to the voice of our guide when we are in the cave. We set our minds on those thoughts that equip us for life. God does not want us to live in worry or fear. He wants us to live with bold confidence in his power. "For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline."

Danny Hernaez

In the Bible, we see a pattern in which God rarely sends people into situations where their comfort level is high. Rather He promises to be with them in their fear. It is God's presence - not comfortable circumstances - that brings people to the best version of themselves.

Paul said that when we live in the flow of the Spirit, he does not make us timid, but instead gives us power and love. This is not the only place in the Bible where we see a close connection between receiving love and living in power. The apostle John makes the same association in one of the most famous statements in the Bible: "There is no fear in love... perfect love casts out fear."

When we live in the flow of the Spirit, we let the perfect love of God wash over us until our fear begins to leave. Modern science has confirmed what John wrote so many centuries ago. Love and fear are literally incompatible in our bodies. God wants to love you - and in loving you, to cast out your fear.

Jesus was facing adversity when he told his followers that if they had faith, they could command a mountain and it would be cast into the sea. When my focus is on the mountain, I am driven by my fear. When my focus is on God, however, I am made alive by my faith. But if I did not have the mountain, I would not know that faith could be in me.

Use your imagination to picture being shepherded by the Lord in green pastures beside still waters. Is there any room for fear?

God knows that you can stand that trial; He would not give it to you if you could not. It is His trust in you that explains the trials of life, however bitter they may be. God knows our strength, and He measures it to the last inch; and a trial was never given to any man that was greater than that man's strength, through God, to bear it.

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“There is a mistaken notion among some that to own a paper is to have a license to clobber one’s enemies and attack people we don’t like. A newspaper is an information tool to reach a large number of people at a given time. A newspaper should inform, educate, entertain and provide viewpoints that could give us the means to make intelligent decisions for ourselves and others.” — Ernie Flores Jr., founding editor and publisher

Dementia Care Aware: The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) launched the nation’s first Dementia Care Aware (DCA) program. Through this $23 million investment, DHCS, in partnership with UC San Francisco, is leading a statewide program for primary care providers, including trainings, tools, and resources needed to administer cognitive health assessments in a culturally responsive manner and determine the appropriate next steps for patients.

CalGrows: The California Department of Aging has launched a $150 million statewide Direct Care Workforce Training and Stipends Program – CalGrows – including an Innovation Fund that seeks to train, incentivize, and support the direct care Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) workforce (nonIHSS), including unpaid family and friend caregivers. CalGrows aims to improve direct care worker skills, job satisfaction, and employment retention, and present opportunities to progress on career, training, and educational ladders.

Nutrition Support and Infrastructure: Investments in homedelivered and congregate meals have increased by $52.5 million (ongoing) to support the nutrition needs of older adults. The state also invested $40 million to fund capacity and infrastructure improvement grants for senior nutrition programs. These funds relate to MPA Initiatives and don’t reflect the full funding to support nutrition services and CalFresh in California.

New Funding for Local Leadership: Over the next two years, the California Department of Aging will award $4.5 million in grants to up to 36 local communities across the state to help launch their own aging-

Jesse Reyes

Continued from page 5 they intercept men and they are not the ugly ones either. With respect to morality there are some who are models of virtue and innocence and others who have nothing womanly about them, except the dress or at most their sex. Rightly, it has been said that the women in the south of Europe have fire in their veins. However, here prostitution is a little more concealed than at Barcelona, though not less unrestrained.”

The letter to Paciano simply establishes that Rizal was indeed familiar with such diversions. However, it was one of the Filipino generals

Fr. Agustin T. Opalalic

the life we should have. This life of discipleship, however, is considered through the living of the Beatitudes as the way that leads us to the kingdom of heaven. And in today's Gospel, we are told that when we live the Beatitudes we will truly be "the light of the world and the salt of the earth." Two symbols: light and salt, which Christians, the disciples of Jesus, should be in their relationship with one another in today's world.

The world today is telling us that total self-satisfaction, power, wealth, glory, and honor should be our goals. Very attractive and seductive goals that many of us are convinced to achieve. However, with it, the world has fallen into racial divisions, political conflicts, economic instability; an emptiness that is described in evangelical words as "living in darkness", which needs the light to lead us to a life of truth, happiness and harmony. The and disability-friendly action plans.

2023-24 Initiatives

The 95 priority initiatives for 2023-24 build upon the work of the MPA’s first two years. Each initiative will have one or more areas of focus — Deliver, Analyze, Communicate — that add another level of accountability beyond the Annual Report, Initiative Tracker, and other reporting. Some of the 2023-24 initiative themes include:

• Addressing housing needs by promoting access to models that integrate housing with services, as well as streamlining funding for new housing options

• Improving accessible transportation options

• Expanding health care and services options to make it easier to age in place, at home

• Encouraging healthy aging and expanding access to geriatric care across the state

• Expanding support for people with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia

• Driving innovation in skilled nursing and long-term care facilities

• Bridging the digital divide for older adults and people with disabilities

• Improving the supports available to unpaid family and friend caregivers, as well as offering training and career paths for paid caregivers to reduce turnover

• Ending older adult homelessness and improving income and food security

“The Master Plan for Aging is guiding actions that are making a difference in the lives of Californians today, not planning for action that starts in 10 years,” said California Department of Aging Director Susan DeMarois. “The Master Plan is delivering greater access to health care, more options for housing and home and community-based care, expanded access to technology to reduce isolation, and more support for caregivers, a critical but often unseen workforce. Our priority initiatives for the next two years will help California make additional progress toward the Master Plan for Aging’s goals and reinforce California’s commitment to equity for all.” during the Philippine Revolution and the Philippine-American War, Jose Alejandrino who recounts in his book, “La Senda del Sacrificio” (“The Price of Freedom,” 1945) the following: “One day he invited me to amuse ourselves, telling me we could pass the time in the house of two sisters whom he knew. We went there and I came to like the amusement very much, because a few days later I asked him when we could return for more fun, but then he grew serious, saying that he considered such entertainment was necessary once a month but more than once was already a vice, and he was not willing to encourage vices.”

Although he did not explicitly state it, the real meaning behind this “pleasurable diversion” was clearly life of Christ and His disciples is expected to bring this light in the midst of men and women in the midst of darkness. The simplicity of our lives, the peaceful actions of our lives, the martyrdom that many Christians have to suffer for the sake of righteousness and justice in the name of Jesus, becomes like the light that brings the enlightenment of a hope toward a radiant future that is, truly, eternal life in the Kingdom of God, which is a life of a true luz that will never end.

In the same way, in this life as disciples of Christ to which we have lovingly and joyfully committed, as Christians we are "the salt of the earth" that can give life and flavor to the world that not only lives in darkness but has almost lost, also, its objectives and values. We do not have to enumerate the consequences that Evil has made in our society, starting with the legalization of abortion, the danger of acceptance of same-sex marriages, the social and family effects of divorces. An authentic Christian life following the spirit of the Beatitudes can truly make us "the salt of the earth".

Therefore, let us pray, my dear brothers and sisters, that we may continue to be open to a daily conversion of our lives, and that we may live the spirit of the Beatitudes and continue to be "light of the world and salt of the earth" today and always.

Access the complete Master Plan for Aging Annual Report and 2023-24 Initiatives at https://mpa.aging.ca.gov/ UpdatesAndProgressReports/. The MPA Implementation Tracker is at https://www.mpaprogress.org/.

About The Master Plan for Aging implied. Alejandrino simply wrote it in a tone of respect for Rizal. He was then an engineering student in Belgium where he met and became friends with Rizal.

California’s Master Plan for Aging (MPA) was launched in 2021 as a collaborative effort between the Governor’s Office and all cabinet agencies under the leadership of the California Health and Human Services Agency, philanthropy partners, and a variety of stakeholder groups. By 2030, one in four Californians will be aged 60 or over, introducing new challenges and opportunities for the economy, health care system, communities, workplaces, and families. The MPA is a comprehensive 10-year effort to expand programs and access to care and services for all older adults and people with disabilities, delivering a California for All Ages & Abilities, where people are engaged, valued, and afforded equitable opportunities to thrive. To learn more, visit https:// mpa.aging.ca.gov/.

About the California Department of Aging Under the umbrella of the California Health and Human Services Agency, the California Department of Aging (CDA) administers programs that serve older adults, adults with disabilities, family caregivers, and residents in long-term care facilities throughout the State. These programs are funded through the federal Older Americans Act, the Older Californians Act, and through the Medi-Cal program. To promote the Department’s goal of every Californian having the opportunity to enjoy wellness, longevity and quality of life in strong healthy communities, CDA actively collaborates with many other State departments (and other entities) on transportation, housing and accessibility, emergency preparedness and response, wellness and nutrition, falls and injury prevention, improving services to persons with dementia, reducing fraud and abuse, and many other issues. To learn more, visit www. aging.ca.gov.

The purpose of revisiting these stories is not to mock our revered national hero but to recount and appreciate his magnanimity. In doing so, we realize that Jose Rizal was not a deity to be put on a pedestal but someone relatable – a true Filipino we can cherish and emulate because just like all of us, he was very human and also made discernible mistakes in life.

So, I say - Hurrah to the humanity of our national hero, Jose Rizal…and again Happy Valentine’s Day to all of you, dear folks!

Mabuhay!!

CA CLIMATE CREDIT MOVED UP TO PROVIDE WINTER BILL RELIEF TO SDG&E CUSTOMERS

SAN DIEGO, Feb. 2, 2023 –

SDG&E residential customers who have both gas and electric service will see a total of about $104 in bill credit on their February and March SDG&E statements, earlier than in previous years, following a decision made today by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to move up the timing of two of three scheduled installments of California Climate Credit to provide winter bill relief to residents statewide. California gas consumers have been experiencing record high bills as a result of unprecedented market volatility in natural gas commodity prices in the West.

SDG&E’s residential gas customers will see a $43.40 credit on their February bill. Electric customers will see a $60.70 credit on their March bill and the same amount on a bill in the second half of the year. Customers will see the climate credit reflected on their next bill. Billing cycles vary for customers, so not everyone will see the bill credit at the same time of the month.

This year’s climate credit totals up to $164.80. In the past three years, SDG&E disbursed the climate credit in three installments with the gas credit appearing in the April billing cycle, and the electric credit appearing in the August and September billing cycles.

“Over the past few weeks, SDG&E and CPUC staff met several times to explore the feasibility of moving up the climate credit to provide our customers with bill relief,” said SDG&E Vice President of Customer Services Dana Golan. “In anticipation of today’s vote, our billing group has been working hard to put procedures into place to accelerate the climate credit as quickly as possible.”

The California Climate Credit is a state program that requires power plants, natural gas providers, and other large industries that emit greenhouse gases to buy carbon pollution permits. The credit on customers’ bills represents their share of the payments from the state’s program and provides customers with an increased opportunity to invest in energy-saving products.

There is no action required to receive the credit. All gas and electricity customers, including community choice aggregation customers, will automatically receive the credit in their upcoming billing cycles. SDG&E will also alert customers to the climate credit via email.

Assistance Programs

Customers who are struggling to pay their SDG&E bill are encouraged to visit sdge.com/assistance to explore all of the resources available to them – bill discounts, debt relief payment

Feeding Daygo 5th Annual Mutual Aid Mall on Feb. 5 at Sycuan Square arrangements and no-cost energy efficiency upgrades that can help lower their bill long-term.

The Neighbor-to-Neighbor program, funded entirely by SDG&E shareholder dollars (not ratepayer dollars), provides eligible customers with up to $300 to offset their outstanding bills. The federally funded Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) offers financial help ranging from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars, depending on household income, size and past due balances. Learn more at sdge.com/assistance.

SDG&E is an innovative San Diegobased energy company that provides clean, safe and reliable energy to better the lives of the people it serves in San Diego and southern Orange counties. The company is committed to creating a sustainable future by providing its electricity from renewable sources; modernizing natural gas pipelines; accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles; supporting numerous nonprofit partners; and, investing in innovative technologies to ensure the reliable operation of the region’s infrastructure for generations to come. SDG&E is a subsidiary of Sempra (NYSE: SRE). For more information, visit SDGEnews.com or connect with SDG&E on Twitter (@SDGE), Instagram (@SDGE) and Facebook.