Asked faithful to ‘rush back’ to Jesus as Church masses now allowed 2 years after COVID-19 pandemic restriction

TACLOBAN CITY- The representative of Pope Francis to the Philippines, Archbishop Charles John Brown, led in the celebration of the 501st year anniversary of the First Sunday Mass on Limasawa Island, Southern Leyte Thursday (March 31).
In his homily, the papal nuncio said that he was glad to visit Limasawa for this year’s celebration after failing to officiate the event last year, coinciding with the Quincentennial celebration of the First Mass in the Philippines.
Archbishop Brown was not able to visit Limasawa last year because of the travel restrictions imposed due to the pandemic caused by coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
“It’s a great joy and immense privilege for me as a representative of Pope Francis to be with all of you here on the island of Limasawa to commemorate the 501st celebration of the First Mass on the Filipino soil, March 31st, 5121,” he said during the celebration held at the Magallanes Shrine.
Among those present were priests within the Diocese of Maasin headed by Bishop Precioso Cantillas; local officials led by Governor Damian Mercado and municipal mayor Melchor Petracorta and Public Works Sec.Roger Mercado, former congressman of the province.
Archbishop Brown noted that with the cases of COVID-19 in the country now appear to be declining, regular masses and not just live stream masses could now be conducted.
The papal nuncio said that the pandemic has resulted in what he described as ‘Eucharistic fasting” among the faithful as they could not attend Church masses except those conducted virtually due to restrictions.
“But seating in your homes watching mass on your cellphone or on your laptop is not the same(as attending mass in the church) because you are not able to receive the Bread of Life,” the papal nuncio said.
“So after two years of this kind of Eucharistic fasting…rush back to masses; rush back to the source of supernatural light; rush back to our Savior Jesus Christ who loves us,” he said.
The papal nuncio said that the faithful need to receive the Eucharist ‘to stay alive supernaturally.’
“The Eucharist is a form of life that Jesus gives us that will help us go from natural death to eternal life. The power of the Eucharist will make our bodies live again. This is the message of Christianity,” he said.
Archbishop Brown also said that he was elated that during his visit, it coincided with the ordination of 12 new priests to the Diocese of Maasin.
The visit of Archbishop Brown to Limasawa came after the historic island was pummeled by Typhoon Odette December of last year.
Limasawa was one of the hard-hit areas in the province due to the typhoon with practically all of its more than 6,100 residents were affected and rendered homeless.
At present, of its six barangays, two of them, San Agustin and San Bernardo, remain without power connections.
(JOEY A. GABIETA)

DOST Sec de la Pena graced the formal opening of Eastern Visayas Centrum

PALO, Leyte- An interactive science museum based here was formally opened with the hope that it would pave the way for this town to be known as a ‘science municipality.’
The facility, located at the second floor of the Leyte Academic Center (LAC), is a joint project of the provincial government and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
DOST Sec. Fortunato de la Peña, who graced the event, said that the establishment of the science centrum in Leyte will not only benefit children but even adults because of the problem of science literary in the country.
“Having a science centrum here is a good way to introduce children to science and this allows them to have interaction,” he said, adding that the facility in Leyte is the fifth science centrum in the country.
The secretary said that the facility will also lead to making the municipality not only as a science town but also an additional attraction that will increase tourist arrivals.
Featured at the science centrum are “gravity well”, “feel the shake”, “head on a platter”, “pendulum wave”, “pedal power”, trash timeline, plasma sphere, magic faucet, zoetrope, hazer harp, moving faces, among others.
Science books that students may read are also on display.
Leyte Governor Leopoldo Dominico Petilla said that he is optimistic that the facility will truly serve its purposes-both for science-related information and as a tourist attraction.
“Once we start promoting this to other provinces, people will be coming here, especially students. Not only from Eastern Visayas but even from other regions as well that does not have this kind of facility yet,” he said.
Karina Rosa Tiopes, the regional director of the Department of Tourism, agreed with Gov. Petilla’s observation saying that a “knowledge tour” can be offered by the municipal government not only at the science centrum but may also include the solar farm facility in the town for students and even tourists.
“Palo has 4Ps tourism program, maybe we can add another P which is Pag-aram,” Tiopes said.
While the science centrum is temporarily housed at the LAC, former Palo Mayor Remedios Petilla said that they are planning to construct a building that is going to be a permanent home of the exhibit.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)