God’s gift

Today, we are starting a new liturgical year in the Roman Church calendar. Today is the First Sunday of Advent. The word Advent came from the Latin word, "advenio" which means "the coming" — not "He came" but "the coming."

The First Coming, is the coming of the child in Bethlehem, the coming of the Savior, the coming of Emmanuel, God with… which is a historical coming.

But what makes this so much more important is the longing and the hope that the children of Israel brought down through the centuries, for about two thousand years, beginning with Abraham and when Joseph and Mary went to the little village, the little town of Bethlehem — the seat of King David of olden days — and there the child Jesus was born.

The First Coming is God comes in weakness. God comes in the quiet of the night. God comes like a helpless child, in need of men and women to take care of him, to watch over him, to feed him, although the Blessed Mother and Joseph are raising a child who is God Himself. And so this coming is well worth all the effort we put in to celebrate.

As the song goes, "so this is Christmas", Christmas is the gift of God. His Son comes weak, helpless, and needy, that we might know that in the mystery of God there is a great yearning to experience, to experience what how it is to be human and become one with us. It is as if God comes all the way down from the highest of heaven and from then on he has come and he has come to stay and he continues to be with us.

In our society today, particularly here in Metro Manila where the alert level of community quarantine has been relaxed, we can see that right after the observance of All Saints and All Souls' days, people begin to flock to malls and shopping centers to shop, buy gifts in preparation for Christmas celebration. And it is also during this time of the year when criminals and lawless elements take advantage to victimize innocent civilians.

Brig. Gen. Jonnel C Estomo, the regional director of the National Capital Region Police Office, assures the public that the Metro Manila police force, being the primary unit responsible for keeping the peace and order in the region, conducts inter-agency coordination with other government offices, particularly local government units, to keep the populace safe. Just recently, the NCRPO scores anew in a series of its anti-insurgency campaign in support of Executive Order 70 which created the National Task Force to End Local Communist and Armed Conflict.

Estomo said, "we have snared a bigger fish of national importance and corresponding reward. NCRPO scores anew (two hits in one bullet) in a series of its anti-insurgency campaign in support of EO 70 and the arrest of Most Wanted Persons. We are not only intensifying our manhunt operations but also maximizing our coordination nationwide… to keep the people of the metropolis SAFE from all kinds of criminality and threats."

Since 11 August 2022, both the Regional Mobile Force Battalion, NCRPO, and the Regional Intelligence Division were able to facilitate the surrender of 30 communist terrorist groups members operating in NCR, and seven others operating in Masbate province.