Pgma Speech During The 34th National Prayer Breakfast (npb)

PGMA's Speech during the 34th National Prayer Breakfast (NPB) Malago Grounds, Malacañan Park, PSG Compound 26 November 2009 Thank you, Isabel. Congressman Joe Tan Ramirez, Mayor Lim, and I see some other elected officials here. I see Congresswoman Thelma Almario, I see Governor Sally Lee, many other government officials who are part of our Executive Branch, Honorable bishops, our speakers and readers, Ambassador Choi and their Korean delegation, to all of you, welcome to Malacañan Park! In 1997, I attended a National Prayer Breakfast here as well, and it was held in Malacañan Park. And I thought that I would repeat that because I felt that in the grounds of this historic site we can be inspired, we can have profound insights that come only from prayerful communion with the Lord. Actually, I wanted it under those trees but I understand that the organizers wanted you all to be more compact here. So I said, let’s transfer the tent, they don’t have to cover the food, they have to cover the people. So the tents are coming here so you won’t feel the heat of the sun so much because it is important that we have some peace and comfort as we pray and we meditate on the things that we should pray and think about today. We gather here today in the shadow of the tragedy that was recently visited upon so many of our brothers and sisters in Mindanao. It was a blight on our nation. Men and women, young and old, political battlers and journalists: all were victims of a shameful crime that has no place in civilized society. It cries for the fullest measure of retribution from our institutions of justice. Yes, there is no condemnation in the Lord but on the other hand, on earth, there is a system of justice and the perpetrators will not find a way to escape justice. Political violence has been a sad legacy of our nation; we had made considerable progress in protecting our people from such violence in the last few years. Now, let us pray today that the events of this week will not deter this nation from breaking the bonds of violence that plagues our political system. Let us pray today that peace will prevail in the Philippines. Let us pray that commitment to human rights and human dignity will prevail. We are a civilized nation. We are a nation, we’re children of God. Let us pray for the grace not to allow a travesty of our nation’s commitment to uphold the basic humanity of every single Filipino. Today is our National Breakfast Prayer Day and I have asked Secretary Ermita to do the appropriate documentation that today on this occasion of our National Prayer Breakfast we declare: a National Day of Prayer and Mourning for the victims. That crime is too outrageous not to prick the conscience of the nation. So on this day, let us pray that the grieving relatives and friends of the victims be granted the solace of faith and peace of mind. Let us pray that the burden of anger and revenge be lifted from their hearts, so that they may become instruments of a return to peace rather than the continuation of violence. Let us pray that they will be uplifted by the continuous support of their communities and the sympathies of a bereaved nation. Let us pray that outrage is overcome by reason and the need to live our lives in peace, honor and human dignity. And that is what I can discern from the reading of today that Joe Tan read: that there is no condemnation in the Lord. Let us pray for peace in Mindanao. It will be a blessing for all its people, Muslim, Christian and Lumads. It will show other multifaith communities that there can be common ground on which to live together in peace, harmony and cooperation that respects each other’s religious and even political beliefs. Ang tanong ay hindi, “Sino ang mananalo?” kung hindi, “Bakit pa ba kailangang mag-laban laban ang kapwa Pilipino tungkol sa mga isyu na alam naman natin lahat na ‘di malulutas sa dahas, at ang paraang pangresolba ay paraang demokratiko.” Let us pray for the grace to improve the security of those parts of the country that have known much violence, so that as we move quickly as we’re able to move quickly to develop the economy of those areas when there is peace when we do that we ensure a lasting peace as well that ensures that security is no longer an issue.

The darkness of the human heart must submit to Divine law and Divine will. We cannot escape moral responsibility to restrain the darkness in our imperfect hearts from striking out a conscienceless behavior. It is God Himself we heard speaking to Joshua, the son of Moses, who admonishes us: “To be strong and courageous. To be careful to obey the laws he has given us.” It is God Himself who warns us that there are laws from Him that are intended to be obeyed at all times. And so even if there is no condemnation in the Lord, there is also the commandments that he wants us to follow. Not the least of these laws, as set forth in the two tablets brought down by Moses is a very clear commandment: “Thou shalt not kill.” But we have two readings today because there is the question: “Is there more to our experience of the Divine than the structures set forth by the Old Testament, by the Mosaic law? Is this the only place where God’s voice may be heard by the families of the victims, inconsolable in their grief or impassioned with revenge? Is this the only venue of redress for our countrymen seeking to understand what happened and to commiserate with their afflicted brethren? Is this the sole source of comfort vouchsafed by God to us?” We share with our Muslim brothers the Old Testament. On top of that, we Christians have the New Testament. And the New Testament through the New Testament, it is through these larger questions that again the Creator speaks, where the disciple St. Luke assures us that “the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” In the reading that was read earlier, when the crowd complained about Jesus seeking shelter in the house of the hated tax collector Zacchaeus, they had to be reminded that the redeemer of souls turns away no one. But let us not also overlook what Zacchaeus said in order to be deemed worthy of receiving Jesus into his house. The tax collector gave away half his possessions to the poor and offered to recompense four times over anyone whom he may have wronged. Indeed, we are directed by our conscience. We are hounded by our conscience to make sure that the heart and spirit who receive God’s grace must seek always to be pure and worthy. It is our common aspiration to such purity and worthiness that binds us together as Filipino Christians and makes our nationhood worthwhile. It is an aspiration that is also shared -- in another vocabulary, perhaps, but with no less passion -- by our fellow Filipinos of other faiths, especially our Muslim brethren in the South. Their religion is just as offended -- no less than others -- by criminal actions and the suffering of families victimized. We are entering our election year. This is the last National Prayer Breakfast I will be joining you as president. This time next year another leader of our country will hopefully break bread with you in common prayer and fellowship. As we go about the process of selecting that leader and others like him next year, I ask for your prayers that the process shall no longer be marred by violence and strife. Let us pray that this will be a time to empower the people, not to cower the people. And in the meantime, though this is my last National Prayer Breakfast as president, I asked Joe Tan, “Do you only have a prayer breakfast once a year?” He said, “No. One big one once a year but we have many other frequent small ones.” Isabel and I were discussing that our administration would like to be more involved in your little prayer breakfast. And as I have hosted this prayer breakfast here in Malacañang -- the bigger one -- I hope that there will be other occasions before I step down to have to be able to host other little prayer breakfast with you. We must do this more frequently now in the next few months because we must stand together as a nation, holding hands as one, to fight malevolence in every form and beyond fighting malevolence, to promote the good that is in every one of us. Nawa’y lagi tayong bantayan, basbasan at patnubayan ng Poong Maykapal nating lahat. Maraming salamat sa inyo. [HOME]