The Great Commission

“NOW the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted.

“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

(Matthew 28:18–20) instills in us the confidence to embark on the journey of disciple-making.

The feast of Ascension, which we celebrated last Sundaty, is part of what we call the Paschal Mystery.

There are four interrelated parts: suffering and death; resurrection; ascension; and the sending of the Spirit. They are closely interlocked as one reality.

If we consider that the resurrection affirms the continued existence of Jesus after his crucifixion, the Ascension emphasizes that Jesus, who is alive, has now entered a state of glory, sharing the same level of honor as his Father.

The Gospel of Matthew tells us that as Jesus prepares to ascend into heaven and sit at the right hand of the Father, He imparts one final command to His disciples, both present and future: the Great Commission. This command serves as the driving force behind every community of believers.

Prior to granting this authority to proclaim, Jesus convinces them of his own power and tells them that he always enjoyed such authority from his Father.

The fundamental basis for evangelism and missions in the contemporary church lies in the Great Commission.

On the basis of this authority, it becomes imperative for all Christians to spread the gospel to those around us.

It is not solely the responsibility of priests and missionaries to proclaim the necessity of accepting Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

Rather, it is the duty of every Christian, regardless of age or life stage, to share their faith.

It implies a deeper level of commitment and engagement with the faith compared to merely gaining converts.

It involves guiding individuals on a journey of spiritual growth and helping them deepen their understanding of the principles and values of the faith they have embraced.

This process typically entails teaching, mentoring, and providing support to new believers as they strive to live out their faith in their daily lives.

At first glance, the Great Commission ignites a sense of excitement and urgency within us to share the message of Jesus with others.

However, upon closer examination, we realize the enormity of this commandment.

The task of making disciples of all nations seems overwhelming and beyond our own capabilities.

Even before we take action, Jesus is already at work in the lives of those we seek to reach.

He prepares hearts to be receptive and removes the barriers that hinder His transformative work.

This phenomenon is occurring all around us, and all we need to do is be willing to go.

Despite witnessing Jesus’ appearances, some of His followers still harbored doubts.

They struggled to accept that the person standing before them was truly Jesus. This insight sheds light on why Jesus proclaimed in the Gospel of John, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

As believers who have chosen to have faith in Jesus without physically seeing Him, we are recipients of divine blessings.

It is important to remember that doubt is not inherently negative. God can use our doubts to draw us closer to Him, allowing us to experience a deeper dimension of faith.

When we encounter doubts about our faith or the tasks Jesus has assigned us, we should recall the promise Jesus left us in the closing verses of Matthew’s Gospel: “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Our God remains by our side, regardless of circumstances. He stood with the prophets of the Old Testament in times of fear and doubt, and He continued to be present for His followers in the New Testament amidst persecution.

Fortunately, we have a compassionate Lord and Savior who understands the seemingly impossible task He has entrusted to us.

The fulfillment of the Great Commission hinges entirely on verse 18, for it is through Jesus that the impossible becomes possible.

Our God never abandons us, even in uncertain times. His presence provides the hope we need each day.

A case in point was the sport of Vovinam, an indigenous Vietnamese martial art that made its debut in the biennial meet.

Filipina Hergie Bacyadan fought a Vietnamese in the final of the women’s -65kg combat event. The scoring was so close, exchanging upperhand even as the Filipina was clearly pummeling her opponent.

Another proof of the pudding was Vietnams’ 136 gold medal haul to emerge as tops in the overall medal standing for second straight time since hosting the Games in Hanoi last year.

The Philippines can do the same and rival Vietnam for domination in this part of the world.

It is about developing disciples, not just gaining converts. Our task is clear. We are to share the good news with everyone, baptize believers, and teach them to follow Christ’s commands.

He has been granted all authority in heaven and on earth. He is the source of power behind the effectiveness of the Great Commission, enabling us to make disciples. Everything we do is dependent on the authority of Jesus, and without Him, everything crumbles.

Yet, it is precisely Jesus’ authority that

JOSEPH, Oregon—From the sun-dappled, treelined village of Joseph, Debbie Price can see the distant snowy peaks of the Seven Devils, a series of mountains in the Rockies that mark Oregon’s border with Idaho.

But for many eastern Oregonians like Price, that frontier no longer feels relevant. The 64-year-old retiree is part of a local movement that wants to redraw the region’s map so that they can secede to join the neighboring, more conservative state of Idaho.

“There’s a lot more freedom in Idaho than there is here,” said the former legal assistant, who traveled across the state border to remarry during the pandemic, at a time when weddings were banned in Oregon.

Among her list of grievances with Oregon are impending restrictions on carrying firearms, its decriminalization of the use of drugs, its prochoice stance on abortion, and its support for LGBTQ rights.

Price blames all these on the “woke agenda” radiating out from Portland, the progressive metropolis near the northwestern state’s coast.

“Maybe I’m old fashioned. I want things to stay like they are,” said the devout Christian, touting Idaho’s ban on abortion.

“I’m not anxious to move forward and try to be what the world is going toward these days.”

While Oregon has not elected a Republican mayor in 40 years, it is very geographically divided. At the midterm elections last November, only six out of 36 counties voted Democrat.

But those six are among the most populous, and they consistently control the state’s top offices.

‘Greater Idaho’

Out in the rural east, many voters are tired of what they describe as feeling dispossessed by the urban elite who live along the Pacific coast.

A radical solution has been brewing: to move the Idaho-Oregon border to the west and create a “Greater Idaho” encompassing half of present-day Oregon.

Of 15 counties in eastern Oregon, 11 have already voted to require local officials to discuss the plan.

On Tuesday, Wallowa County—where

Price lives—is scheduled to vote on a similar measure.

Signs demanding to “Move Oregon’s Border” sit alongside “Trump 2024” placards in the vast, rolling plains of this small corner of America, which has less than one person per square mile.

Locals decry “one-size-fits-all” laws that ignore their rural way of life.

Some complain that they can’t kill wolves threatening their livestock as easily as neighboring ranchers in Idaho.

Others blame the decline of the vital local timber industry on the state’s strict logging limits, which have forced many mills to close.

Many are afraid that Oregon could follow California in phasing out diesel and even gasoline-powered cars in favor of electric vehicles.

“The diesel ban is a horrible idea, and I think it would destroy our economy,” said Garrett

Mahon, a 41-year-old logger.

On a remote piece of land that has belonged to his family for a century, Mahon stacks giant tree trunks with an industrial machine that “you would never be able to run... on a battery,” he said.

Inland Oregon’s freezing winters sap the power of electrical farming and logging machinery, he explained. ‘Culture wars’

“I don’t think we’ll actually be able to not be Oregon: there’s so much still involved in trying to get it done,” admitted Mahon, a hunter who keeps a semi-automatic rifle in his pickup truck.

But he hopes that if his fellow rural Oregonians keep consistently voting for the project, politicians will have to “listen.” the age of 55.

Still, the dream of a “Greater Idaho” remains highly improbable.

THE bemedaled military and police officer, a Thomasian law alumnus with Latin honors after his name, retired a two-star general 10 years ago as Director of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.

He immediately ran for Congress as Representative of the Anti-Crime and Terrorism through Community Involvement and Support (ACT-CIS) Partylist and won a seat in the then16th Congress where he authored 38 House bills and resolutions and co-sponsored 114 measures.

In 2015, he was voted as Outstanding Congressman.

This is the face seen by the public of the man, a masteral degree holder from the Manuel L. Quezon University, who has five children and four grandchildren, who was born in Cotabato City on February 13, 1957 to Ilocano parents from Ilocos Norte: Army Colonel Samuel Pagdilao, Sr., and Anunciacion Duldulao-Pagdilao.

His parents later served as mayors in separate years of Pinili, the 17th municipality of Ilocos Norte, where warriors walked at the turn of the 20th century and during the Japanese occupation in the 1940s.

Not many are aware that the 66-year-old erstwhile public servant plays the B-flat trumpet, as he did in public when his father, then mayor of Pinili, celebrated his 70th milestone at the Manila Polo Club on November 8, 2002.

At dinner, attended by friends and kin from Mindanao and Ilocos Norte, the adoring 45-yearold Samuel Jr. played the Nat King Cole classic version of The Nearness of You and Glenn Miller’s 1940 recorded When I Fall In Love for his father, himself a minted music lover.

GG: What do you do now that you are retired?

Or as an elderly.

SP: To keep my mind and body active, I’m very much involved in Rotary International activities as a district leader and in community work through my volunteer organization that I helped organized called Community Investigative Support. We advocate citizen involvement in promoting peace, order and safety in the community.

I play regular golf with my former PMA Classmates and fellow Rotarians and indulge in other physical activities like biking and jogging. I travel to places and other countries yearly.

And most of all, I visit and play with my grandchildren who give me the natural highs.

GG: Have you had any surgeries pre- or during retirement?

When we recognize Jesus’ authority and His central role in the Great Commission, the task of making disciples becomes less daunting. Without Jesus, the Great Commission would be overwhelming and seemingly endless.

However, with Jesus, it becomes a joyful purpose that brings personal and communal transformation.

Facebook: tonylavs Twitter: tonylavs every day? Do you drink sodas? Wine, etcetera.

Website: tonylavina.com.

SP: At least 5 to 6 glasses of water. I seldom drink soda and occasionally drink wine and hard drinks.

GG: At what age did you start feeling you are physically weaker than previously.

SP: At the age of 66.

GG: What is your secret, if any, for biologically aging gracefully?

SP: Exercise, right food, vitamins, enough sleep, relaxation and having fun.

GG: Are there things you now remember as an elderly that you should have done when you were younger?

SP: Travel and explore the many beautiful and pristine places in the country and in other countries.

GG: How do you address the fact of getting old?

SP: Accept it as a matter of fact and reality.

While we look older as time goes by, and there’s nothing we can do to prevent or reverse it, yet we can delay aging by not abusing our body with alcohol, unhealthy food and sleep deprivation. Feeling and thinking young will always have their positive effect.

GG: Would you hide your true age? If so, any reason, if not, why not?

SP: I don’t have a reason to hide or lie about my age. Aging is visible. It can be seen from one’s face, body and activity. Thank God, I am blessed with youthful body and energy . I am thankful for God’s gift of longevity.

GG: Lessons in life you would like to inculcate in the minds of your offspring?

Changing state borders would require the approval of both Oregon and Idaho’s legislatures, and then Congress in Washington, DC.

That is an extremely unlikely scenario, even in a nation with a long history of separatism —the Civil War gave birth to West Virginia in 1863, and California has endured more than 200 attempts to divide the state from within.

In eastern Oregon, local Democrats openly mock the notion. At a recent picnic, they handed out cardboard moving boxes for those who wish to leave.

But behind the laughter, there lies some unease.

“America’s democracy is in trouble...

There are so many culture wars,” said Devon Maxwell, a 27-year-old paralegal and member of the Democratic Party.

“What the greater Idaho movement is ultimately doing is inflaming the situation and the divides that are already in the community.”

And there are signs that the idea could be taking root more widely.

In February, Idaho’s House of Representatives passed a non-binding resolution to discuss the project.

This has galvanized supporters of the “divorce” such as Curt Howell, a 67-yearold farmer who believes the movement could spread far beyond Oregon.

“You could redraw the lines all over the West... living amongst like-minded people is always easier,” he said.

He would personally favor a peaceful solution, but he fears that “if in Oregon, something doesn’t get better in the next five to 10 years, it could become ugly.” AFP

Musing about the elderly zone, the 2012 Ulirang Ama Awardee, who was also that year chosen as among The Outstanding Filipino, says “As people age, there are situations that may cause an elderly person to feel isolated such as when he has nothing to do or nobody to fellowship with or talk to.”

He admits retirement “can be a major life change for many seniors (and) can be challenging to adjust to a new routine and find meaningful activities to fill the day.”

But he admits “I am blessed to be still active in volunteer work as head of the CIS—a nationwide community-based volunteer organization as well as a civic leader in Rotary which keeps me mentally, socially and physically active that I don’t feel isolated at all.

“Most of all, I maintain regular bonding with my children and grand children.”

We had the opportunity for some exchange of thoughts, against his rather tight schedule despite as now a private citizen, his phrasal verbs reflecting his upbringing by both God-fearing parents.

GG: Any changes in lifestyle, diet after retirement; at what age did you start feeling the biological aging process?

SP: I have not changed my lifestyle. Same humble, frugal and simple lifestyle nurtured by Ilocano parents minus the regimented, stressful and pressure pack life and 24/7 alert duty of a uniformed personnel who is charged with maintaining peace and security.

At my age, DIET is now heavy on fruit, vegetable and fish and light on meat.

Biological aging started to manifest when my hair started to gray at the age of 60.

GG:Any maintenance medicines? How long have you been taking these?

SP: I take medicines to hold bad cholesterol at bay and stabilize my BP. I started taking these at

SP: Once, when i fractured my left fibula from a helicopter fall back in 1983.

GG: How do you handle physical and psychological stress now? Was there more stress when you were still working or what?

SP: I exercise, listen to music, play the trumpet, read, watch Netflix/movies, meditate, participate in a regular Bible Study, play golf, chat with fellow retirees and colleagues and travel.

Life in the active police service was more stressful. Work was almost always a 24/7 thing minding other people’s problems more than your own or your family.

Your physical and psychological needs were relegated to the back burner and added to the stress when they were not given due course.

GG: What time do you retire to bed? What time do you wake up now that you are retired or as an elderly. What’s your meal for breakfast, lunch, dinner now as an elderly?

SP: I usually retire to bed between 11:30 and midnight. I wake up at 6 am. My body clock has remained the same when I was in the service.

So I wake up at 6 am no matter how late I sleep. At my age now, I still don’t follow a fixed food regimen or diet except that I eat a balanced diet and in moderation.

GG: Are you active in any community activities, including those in religious organizations?

SP: Yes, I’m very active in Rotary activities, CIS community work and in a Bible Study Group.

GG: How many glasses of water do you take

SP: I want to teach my children the following values that will help them succeed in life:

To be kind and compassionate towards others and strive to make the world a better place. To be productive, responsible and law abiding members of society.

To work hard and earn a living and to live within their means.

I want them to maintain close relationships and be there for each other in good times and bad. I want them to be God-fearing.

GG: Do you let your children make their decisions on their own, or do you try to influence their decisions?

SP: As a parent and an elderly, I still wish my children consult with me before making important decisions affecting their lives and fortunes. However, when they are already emancipated from parental authority, it is best that we only give advice when solicited.

GG: Your philosophy in life, as a person, as a public servant.

SP: I always abide by the Bible’s Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

This has been a guiding principle in my life for as long as I can remember. This simple yet powerful philosophy has enriched my life in countless ways, shaping my interactions with others and shaping my understanding of the world around me.

It has taught me to put myself in other people’s shoes and to consider their feelings and perspectives and help me build stronger relationships.

In a way, the Golden Rule has given me a sense of purpose and direction in life and has inspired me to pursue a career in service of others so much so that I will continue to live my life always striving to do unto others as I would have them do unto me.