DAET BISHOP Rex Andrew Alarcon urged Thomasians to have unending faith and belief in salvation amid fears brought by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We face this pandemic with this faith [w]hich is tested when one feels alone, abandoned, desolate, helpless, and unloved. Hindi lang ‘yong management [in handling the pandemic] ang kailangang solusyunan,” Alarcon said in a webinar titled “Unending Grace: Now and Beyond – Building on Faith” organized by the Office of Alumni Relations and the UST Alumni Association last June 27.
The Thomasian bishop lamented that some people look at faith with disdain and find it unreasonable and even superstitious amid the crisis.
Alarcon said the kind of certainty that people got from scientific knowledge was lacking and unstable without faith.
“Hindi sapat ang siyensya o agham, medisina at ekonomiya sa panahon ngayon. [W]e need love, meaning, and hope — a solid terrain that will help us live with authentic meaning in this time of crisis. We need this certainty that is given to us by faith,” he said.
“Despite the technological advancement, people have not become freer or more human [because] there are many situations and forms of injustice like exploitation, manipulation, violence, and abuse,” he added.
UST Hospital resident and Covid-19 survivor Dr. Carmina Fuentebella, who also spoke in the webinar, thanked the people who prayed for her, adding that her experience made her realize the importance of faith in Christ especially in trying times.
“Faith is believing in things you don’t see. [I] will continue to inspire other people na ‘wag mawalan ng faith. I’ll use this second life again to be a competent, compassionate and committed physician,” she said.
The story of Fuentebella, the young doctor who became a Covid-19 patient but defeated the virus in time for her 27th birthday, became viral on social media.
She encouraged everyone to pray for Covid-19 patients.
(READ: varsitarian.net/features/20200503/three-thomasians-tell-their-covid-19-stories)
Other speakers were health mentor Dr. Christian Lubaton and architect and urban planner Felino Palafox Jr.
Sculptor Wilfredo Layug, singer and actor Jose Herrera, and guidance counselor Maria Klara Giannotti served as reactors in the webinar.
The webinar series aims “to inspire to build faith while facing the challenges of the new normal brought by the Covid-19 pandemic.” M. A. O. Castillo
