As the New Year comes many of our folks in high places and in our own floor worries a lot for the country and our lives.

There are many possible reasons why someone might worry about the future, especially in 2024. Some of these reasons are:

• The Philippines’ debt is expected to increase to P15.8 trillion in 2024, which could have negative impacts on the economy and the quality of life of the people.

• The outlook for the Earth’s environment is worse than even scientists can grasp, as biodiversity decline, mass extinction, climate disruption and planetary toxification threaten the survival of all species, including humans.

• The COVID-19 pandemic may still be affecting the health and well-being of millions of people around the world, as new variants and challenges emerge.

• The geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine could escalate into a broader war, with serious consequences for regional and global security.

These are just some examples of the potential sources of worry for 2024, but there may be others that are more personal or specific to your situation. However, worrying too much about things that are uncertain or out of your control can be harmful to your mental and physical health. It can also prevent you from taking positive actions to improve your circumstances or cope with challenges.

Therefore, it is important to learn how to stop worrying and end anxious thoughts. Here are some tips that can help you overcome this feeling:

• Create a daily “worry” period. Set aside a specific time and place to focus on your worries, and write them down. This can help you gain some perspective and control over your worries, and free up your mind for the rest of the day.

• Challenge anxious thoughts. When you catch yourself worrying, ask yourself if the worry is realistic, helpful, or based on evidence. Try to replace negative thoughts with more balanced and positive ones.

• Ask yourself if a worry is something you can control. If it is, then make a plan to address it. If it is not, then try to accept the uncertainty and focus on the things you can influence.

• Interrupt the cycle of worry and stress. Find healthy ways to relax and distract yourself from worrying, such as exercise, meditation, hobbies, music, or spending time with friends and family.

• Talk about your worries. Sharing your concerns with someone you trust can help you feel less alone and more supported. You can also seek professional help from a therapist or counselor if your worries are overwhelming or interfering with your daily life.

• Practice mindfulness. Mindfulness is the practice of paying attention to the present moment, without judging or reacting to your thoughts and feelings. It can help you break free from the habit of worrying and cultivate a more positive and peaceful state of mind6.
Worrying is a natural and common human emotion, but it does not have to control your life. By following these tips, you can learn to cope with your worries and enjoy the present more.

Remember, you are not alone, and there is always hope for a better future.
Email : clemellem2@yahoo.com

PURIFYING or rectifying our intentions should be a constant concern of ours. That’s simply because our intentions play a crucial part in the moral quality of our actions and of our whole life in general. Our intentions determine whether we are with God, as we should, or we prefer to be by our own selves.

We are reminded of this concern in that gospel episode where St. John the Baptist, considering what he was doing then, was asked who he was. (cfr. Jn 1,19-28) “I am not the Christ,” he said. And neither was he one of the prophets.

He simply said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.” He was clear about who he was and the intention of his mission.

We cannot overemphasize the importance of having the right intention. We have to do our best to see to it that we always have purity of intention in everything that we do, so that we only love and serve God, and because of that, we can properly love and serve everybody else.

We need to realize then that we have to take care of our intention, making it as explicit as possible, and honing it to get engaged with its proper and ultimate object who is God. We should try our best to shun being simply casual or cavalier about this responsibility.
Right now, we can say that hardly is this concern given due attention. People seem to be simply pursuing their own personal intentions, practically doing self-indulgence. We need to correct this anomaly.

When our intentions are not pure, when they are contaminated with some ulterior motives, there is no way but for us to fall into some form of inconsistencies and improper priorities.
We should be very careful with our intentions. Since they are hidden, we can easily play around with them. We can appear good outside but bad inside. Our deeds may be considered as acts of generosity and compassion, but the intentions may be those of envy, conceit and the like.

In determining the morality of our human acts, the intention plays a very crucial role. Together with the matter or object, and the circumstances surrounding our acts, our intention can referee whether they are good or bad.

With our intention, we can direct our acts to God, following what was once indicated by St. Paul, “Whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Cor 10,31) That’s how our acts become good, or moral. Otherwise, they are bad, or at least dangerous.

This is so, since God, being the Creator, is the standard for everything. And more than the standard, he is, in fact, the very substance of what is good, true and beautiful, what is fair and just, what is perfection itself.

We need to actively purify our intentions, since we have to contend with many spoilers in this regard these days. In fact, we just have to look around and see how openly opposed many people are of directing their intentions to God.

To them, intentions are strictly personal and confidential matters that others do not have any right to meddle. While there is a certain truth to this claim, we have to remind ourselves that our intentions too are subject to a moral law that is laid down by God himself for us!

As we begin a new year, we are reminded of the basic commandment to love our fathers. Doing so assures us of our reward that God promised us. Apt is this day to remind all and sundry of the basic tenet about loving fathers. Many times people tend to disregard fathers and altogether forget about loving them. Their presence in our midst makes living normal and easy and we fail to feel the importance of their being.

Without them, we would not have been into this world. They were the instruments that God has chosen in His grand plan of procreation. The role of the father in the procreation is very much vital that life will never be sustained over generations without their share and contribution to life.

Man was sent forth by God to go to the world and multiply. The commandment is without qualification or any form of condition. But man was given the free will to do what is right and in his rationale discernment must exercise responsibility of his acts. With procreation is the great responsibility of providing support to the offspring that couples may beget in the sacred union of marriage. Such is the great responsibility placed upon all fathers who cares and loves for all of God’s creations.

But the commandment to love fathers is similarly unqualified and unconditional. We are called by God to love our father and show them respect. Such is our responsibility too, and we must do so without any qualifications or conditions. We are to love our father whatever they may be. No less than Jesus Christ had taught us by example how to love our father. He showed us the goodness of a respectful and obedient child so that we may have a model to emulate.

At times we thought that only those who are good deserve to be loved. With this mindset, we tend to make justifications not to be loving fathers who are not good anyway. We feel holding back the love we ought to give fathers who are not deserving of the love and respect we are supposed to give. When we see fathers who are irresponsible and do not love their children and family, we entertain the thought that such fathers do not merit being loved as well.

We might have seen in Jesus Christ as a loving child to His father because His is one who is truly deserving of such love and respect. But we need to accept the reality that not all fathers are epitomes of righteous virtues to merit our love, but we still must love them anyway.

Today is the most opportune time to reflect about the great roles that fathers play in our lives. This too is the moment for all fathers to reexamine their being so and accept the challenge to be deserving of the great role and the great love that every father deserves. We ought to give our respect and love to all fathers, be they biological, spiritual or by personal vocation.
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