By Karren Jay G. Asgar
The Christ Emphasis Week (CEW) reflects Central Philippine University’s dedication to Exemplary Christian Education for Life (EXCEL).
Central Philippine University (CPU) will host its Christ Emphasis Week (CEW) for the First Semester of School Year 2024-2025 from October 21-25 at various locations across the campus. The weeklong event will commence with a convocation for CPU Faculty and Staff on October 18, 2024, from 4:00 to 5:30 P.M. at the University Church.
With the theme “QUENCHED!,” the CEW convocations for different departments and colleges will center on scriptures from John 7:38 and Isaiah 58:11 (Cf Psalm 107:9, John 4:13-14). This semester’s CEW focuses on the one source that can truly satisfy our souls and bring lasting joy—something not found in material possessions, achievements, or fame, but in an intimate relationship with the One who calls Himself “The Living Water.”
“There is a story about some explorers reconnoitering the vast expanse of the Amazon searching for fresh water because they were dying of thirst only to find out later that their boat had been floating on the largest freshwater reserve in the whole world. The world is in a constant search for meaning and purpose. Whenever we look, we can see traces of these quests-search for identity, self-worth, peace, sense of fulfillment, and joy,” Rev. Cris Amorsolo V. Sian, Senior Pastor of the University Church shared.
As Rev. Sian reflects, the search will continue for countless souls at the expense of relationships, health, joy, sanity, and meaning. He also emphasized St. Augustine’s writings in his Confessions “You have made us for yourselves, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” This conviction was echoed by the great Blaise Pascal recorded in Blaise Pascal’s Pensees (p.75): “What else does this craving, and helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite and immutable object; in other words, by God himself.” Rev. Sian emphasizes that there exists a God-shaped vacuum in every heart that only God can fill.
“This CEW may your longing be filled not by the murky water of the world but by the Living Water himself, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Come to the Living Water and drink from it,” Rev. Sian added.
Christ Emphasis Week underscores CPU’s commitment to providing Exemplary Christian Education for Life (EXCEL). The University Church invites all Centralians, faculty, and staff to engage in this celebration of Christ and the honoring of His Word.