By MS. WEENA SALVADOR MEILY
AWIT
July 25, 2021, Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Psalms 145: 10-11, 15-16, 17-18
Second Kings 4: 42-44
Ephesians 4: 1-6
John 6: 1-15
It seems like this comes at the right time. An apropos time. I thought of writing a prosaic piece, but no. After reflecting on my calling as an (urban) monastic, after thinking over and over again, I finally asked… “ O Spirit, Divine Reality, O God of Life, inspire me. For you alone my life lives in contemplation, for your people my life lives in service”.
And so, I invite you dear reader, to pray with me. Reflect with me. Walk with me. Cry out to God with me, and sing our song of anger, lament and hope. Yes, we are angry. But we wait. And breathe. We wait and nurture our anger to transform. We transform this anger to lament, our cry, our tears; and these tears transform into hope. The apropos time is that time of the State of the Nation. That address of the highest seat in the land to a nation suffering. We deserve to suffer, we deserve to die, he says to church people. (And he means that to all people who oppose him.)
And so we deeply pray…
We come before our God of Compassion to hear our cries, because we love this God who stays with us, who sits with us, and comforts us even at the hour of darkness and death.
Our beloved country is replete with suffering, oozing with death-dealing encounters, and depleted of its strength and hope to see light and savor joy.
Our country’s leaders have left us to suffer hunger to nourish our body and spirit. They have left many of us to pieces and rot at the expense of their whims and hunger for power, sowing terrors of injustice and oppression to advance their greed.
We come before you O Jesus of the Hungry Crowd, feed us with your life-giving body. Nourish us with justice and peace.
We stand before you, O Jesus of the Loaves and Fish, feed us with your compassion. Nourish our bodies with the love you gave to the people hungry for love.
We sit with you O Jesus of the Table of Fellowship; we sit with you as you feed us with your mercy. Nourish our souls with strength and resilience to continue this struggle among your people.
We drink with you O Jesus of the Company of the Poor; we drink your wine of vigor. Nourish our spirit with the courage to face our oppressors and defeat them with the truth.
We eat with you O Jesus of the Feast of Those Pushed to the Margins; we eat with you of the Bread, the Body you offered in oblation at the Cross. Nourish our lives with your own Life, as we stand with One Voice to speak the barbarity of injustices committed against your beloved poor.
As ONE NATION, ONE FAITH, ONE VOICE…
we denounce a multiplication of GREED, and laud a multiplication of JUST DISTRIBUTION
we condemn a multiplication of INDIFFERENCE and extol a multiplication of CARE AND COMPASSION
we rebuke a multiplication of INEQUALITY and applaud a multiplication of EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES
we decry a multiplication of DECEPTION AND LIES and acclaim a multiplication of TRUTH
we condemn the multiplication of SUBJUGATION OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN and applaud a multiplication of WOMEN’S AND CHILDREN’S RIGHTS
we denounce a multiplication of ILLEGAL ARRESTS AND DETENTION and celebrate a multiplication of the FREEDOM to work for the good of all
we condemn a multiplication of FORCED EVACUATIONS and applaud a multiplication of the RIGHT TO HOUSING
we decry a multiplication of EXTRA JUDICIAL KILLINGS and extol a multiplication of LIFE-GIVING LAWS
we rebuke the use of schools, medical, religious and other public places FOR MILITARY PURPOSES and
celebrate the use of all spaces FOR UPLIFTING HUMAN DIGNITY
we denounce a multiplication of RED TAGGING AND FABRICATED CHARGES and laud the multiplication of RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
we condemn a multiplication of BETRAYAL OF NATIONAL INTEREST and applaud a multiplication of RESPECT FOR SOVEREIGNTY and PATRIMONY
we decry a multiplication of CORRUPT PRACTICES IN GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS and extol a multiplication of the use of FAIR AND JUST METHODS
we rebuke the multiplication of FAILURES IN A MILITARISTIC PANDEMIC RESPONSE and celebrate the multiplication of RESTORATION of health and employment of the people
Oh God, you have given us Jesus of the Gospels, the Bearer of the Good News, the Resurrection and the Life, the Bread of Life, Food for the hungry, Health of the sick, Life to the dead. Grant that we, having One Faith, One Nation and One Voice may truly be witnesses of the Good News. May we have the courage to face adversity and bear its difficulties. May we have the resolve to speak the truth in the face of deception and lies. May we stand with the poor as Jesus did. So that we may feast in a table fellowship of peace based on justice.
Amen.
(We bring this prayer in our hearts and cry out to our God at the SONA on July 26, 2021. The last SONA of Mr. Duterte. God, have mercy…)
Balik-Tanaw is a group blog of Promotion of Church People’s Response. The Lectionary Gospel reflection is an invitation for meditation, contemplation, and action. As we nurture our faith by committing ourselves to journey with the people, we also wish to nourish the perspective coming from the point of view of hope and struggle of the people. It is our constant longing that even as crisis intensifies, the faithful will continue to strengthen their commitment to love God and our neighbor by being one with the people in their dreams and aspirations. The Title of the Lectionary Reflection would be Balik –Tanaw , isang PAGNINILAY . It is about looking back (balik) or revisiting the narratives and stories from the Biblical text and seeing ,reading, and reflecting on these with the current context (tanaw).
