I met Bishop Abet Uy for the first time online.
Some three years ago, at the suggestion of a good friend of
mine, Fr. Harold Anthony
Parilla, I sent Bishop Abet a direct message via FB messenger. He replied, within a day or two and told me
how I could proceed with something I wanted to do. I did as was instructed, and some few weeks
later, he sent me, via messenger again, a thank-you note.
Such tech-savviness impressed me, especially for a prelate
his age. I was not surprised that some weeks later, I learned that the Bishop was
using social media to spread God’s message, in very accessible terms. I also personally witnessed events he presided where online footprint was created almost
in real-time (or at least a few hours after the event concluded), making us
aware of where he was, what he was doing in building God’s Kingdom here on earth.
Currently, his various Facebook accounts have thousands of
followers (Teba Yu has 11,744
followers, Abet Uy has
63,337, while the Bishop Abet page
has 30,333) and still growing. He is a
social media influencer because, by definition, anyone who has more than ten
thousand followers is considered one. His popularity online made him a victim
of identity theft sometime in 2017, and more recently, his posts became the
subject of a fund-raising book published in October last year entitled “Mga Hugot
ni Teba Yu: Lines to Heaven”.
In this time and age of fear and anxiety brought about by
the COVID-19 pandemic, I think it is best to populate our mind with positive
thoughts and messages of hope. We should stop spreading negativity and take care
of our mental well-being by maintaining a positive mood. I recently cleaned my
social media wall of people spreading fatalistic articles, fake news, and those
that keep on posting news about the virus. Then I thought about the people that
we need to follow in these challenging times, and among Boholano influencers,
Bishop Abet Uy tops the list. In this post, I will mention four reasons why you
need to check his posts from time to time.
1. He preaches hope, faith, and love. He reminds
us to keep the faith that this crisis will soon come to pass. He consoles us that we can withstand this
crisis, especially if we help each other.
He counsels us that the positive effect of this crisis on our relationships
should remain a lasting lesson that we, as a community, should keep for the
rest of our lives.
2. He calls us to and leads us in prayer. In the last few days, his posts were
replete with calls to prayer. He reminds us that our greatest weapon in this
time of need is our prayer. He leads the
faithful in online masses, in online stations of the cross. While he called for
social distancing and cancelled masses, he made it possible that our spiritual needs are taken care
of by ensuring that regular masses are held online.
3. He practices what he preaches. He understands that people also need to
eat, buy medicines, and have material needs to satisfy. While he preached love and compassion, he
also reinforces this with action. Some
few days ago, he launched ABAG 2020, which stands for Atong Buligan ang
Gakinahanglan (translation, let’s assist the needy), an online program that
provides spiritual, emotional, and material assistance to those who are in
need. As of today (28 March 2020), more than half a million pesos have been
raised, with the Diocese of Tagbilaran as its biggest donor.
4. He challenges us to help and do
more. He reminds us that while in
community quarantine, we can still offer help to those in need. He reminds us that within the comforts of our
home, we can still extend a helping hand so that we will survive this crisis
together as a community. Almost a year ago, he reminded us that true wealth does
not lie in our possessions but in the goodness of our hearts.
I think it is about time that we spread faith in action in
our newsfeeds. I think it is about time that we use our social media accounts
to move from a state of shock and apathy to a state of action. One of the good things to do is to follow people like Bishop Abet, who continuously remind us that
despite the situation we are in, there is reason to hope because our God is
taking care of us.
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For those of you who want to donate to ABAG 2020, please contact (Smart) 0998 153 0167 or (Globe) 0945 164 2526.
Bank deposits are accepted at Metrobank (Account Number 712-7-71200383-5, The Roman Catholic Bishop of Tagbilaran).
Cash donations are accepted at the St. Joseph's Cathedral through Sis. Doris.
In-kind donations are accepted at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, Taloto, Tagbilaran City through Fr. Warli Salise.
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