Year of Faith: A lecture forum
August 20, CAFA Theatre – The Department of Philosophy and Religious Sciences under the College of Arts and Sciences held a lecture on the Year of Faith. – a proclamation in Pope Benedict XVI’s October 11, 2012 apostolic letter, Porta Fidei (The Door of Faith). The Year of Faith lasts until November 24, 2013. Pope Benedict XVI stresses one important fact in his encyclical, Lumen Fidei : The importance and foundation of our hope and faith that is our Savior, Jesus Christ.
This lecture on faith aims to help people reflect on Faith itself; Its guidance will lead us to a glocalized world. Its theme “Faith: A Light that Guides Us” is a summary of its goals. His excellency, Bishop Julito Buhisan Cortes, D.D. made an excellent keynote address. He talked about the three kinds of eyes, which are the eyes of the body, eyes of love and eyes of faith. “In our eyes of faith,” he said, “we see the body and blood of our Savior, Jesus Christ.” The K+12 program was also brought up by Bishop Cortes as the stressed the importance of infusing faith in the youth by imbuing the Catholic Institutions’ curriculums with the very essence of faith itself.
The first lecture which was on Faith and Reason was conducted by guest speaker and professor of Mayor de San Carlos, Reverend Msgr. Dennis Villarojo. Immediately after reaching the podium, he jokingly told the audience that he was not to prove or disprove the existence of God through reason alone. Villarojo emphasized the importance on the limits of faith as he quoted a line from the bible about faith being able to move mountains. “If faith can move mountains,” he deadpanned, “then it can destroy cities and perpetrate genocide.” He expressed his sentiments on the gift of faith saying “Not everyone is given this present but not everyone chooses to open it.”
The second Speaker, a fulltime professor at the Department of Theology and Religious Education in De La Salle University in Manila named Ferdinand Dagmang went about his lecture on Faith and Culture with great enthusiasm, choosing to focus on the Cultural aspect of his topic. “The global has to become local, but only to some extent. The locals take advantage of global influences and convert them into something usable of everyday local life.” All three guest speakers were then awarded with well-deserved Certificates of Appreciation by Ramon Del Fierro, the Dean of CAS, for sharing their life’s worth of knowledge to fellow colleagues and students.
Faith is a gift. It is not antithetic to doubt and any form of human belief can become tyrannical.
