So help us God

Like many of us, I have witnessed a historic moment when the new President, Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III was sworn in as the 15th president of the Republic of the Philippines around noon time of June 30. Associate Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales administered his oath of office at the highly yellow Quirino grandstand. The crowd was a mixture of the ordinary “masa” along with the rich and famous – all in the mood for celebration because this leader was chosen by the voice of the people. Though I could not be in Quirino grandstand at that time, I was at least in front of the television exercising my role as a citizen in accepting the new chief of the land.

We need to be good citizens by supporting our new leaders. I must confess that I did not vote for Noynoy. During the election my choice went to Gibo as President and Binay for Vice President as was the dictate of my conscience. But now that the winners have been proclaimed, personal choices will have to give way for the common good. The will of the majority has surfaced. Now it’s time to work together for the country’s welfare. It is God’s will that Noynoy has become our president.

I have no idea how unbelievers would make their oath of office. But Noynoy ended his solemn vow with the words: “so help me God!” It is customary to end an oath that way. At that instant I prayed for Noynoy while he symbolically placed his hand on the Holy Scriptures held by Fr. Catalino Arevalo, the family’s spiritual adviser. He will need more of God’s wisdom and insight to run our troubled country. When Solomon was a new and young king, the one thing he asked for was wisdom. He prayed for a “discerning heart” to be a good governor. For this God was pleased for he asked neither for wealth nor for long life. This too, I prayed for P-Noy.

I did not hear any mention of God in the President’s inaugural speech that followed, yet such an important beginning merits our collective seeking of God’s accompaniment for him and for our nation. Psalm 127 says “Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.” I do hope, deep in his heart, he is entrusting himself and his new role as servant-leader in the hands of the Almighty just as he started his quest for the presidency with a retreat. So help him God!

P-Noy’s speech was rich in promise. It carried all the yearnings of 90 million Filipinos clamoring for change. He practically made a vow to lift the nation out of poverty and wipe out crippling corruption that has marred our country’s progress. This fifty-year-old bachelor further promised to lead by example and not break the trust of millions of Filipinos who brought him to Malacañang. On my part, I see in it a sign of hope and a new opportunity for a new beginning. Minutes before the oath taking took place many well-known singers captivated the hearts of the crowd with beautiful and inspiring music that called for transformation. The inaugural song “Bagong Pilipinas” was a longing to set the nation right so we can move ahead.

The promise, though, seem to be an impossible dream. The President is facing such a tremendous and difficult task ahead. Now he has to walk his talk. He has to put the vow into praxis. Words will need to become actions for P-Noy is no messiah. What I found striking in his speech was his challenge to us all. He invited the Filipinos not to leave him alone. “The Filipino people should participate actively in effecting change.” One man cannot do it all. Change is a community effort and can only be achieved by team work. Collective strength and cooperation will move our country forward. Such “bayanihan” spirit will effect change to our land. But if we remain indifferent and continue our selfish ways nothing will happen. Nay, our country will continue to deteriorate and fall apart. As we pray for our new leaders we also pray for ourselves and own the “Panata sa Pagbabago” which different sectors of our society made in response to the president’s oath taking. We also make our vow to start the change in ourselves. So help us God!

Road Signs

A bus loaded with mostly foreigners passengers cascaded into a ravine along the Transcentral Highway in Barangay Cansomoroy, Balamban, Cebu. It was suppose to be a day of fun and enjoyment as a final summer outing just before the start of the school year. But it turned out to be a tragedy that cost 21 lives. Many of those killed were medical practitioners and students who took part of the tour.

Human error was the reported cause of the crash. The driver, who was part-owner of the JD Tours company, was not familiar with the terrain. In his failure to maneuver the big vehicle down the treacherous, downward spiral of the road he brought a tragic end to the holiday trip. Despite the road signs and railings along the way it was not enough to prevent the accident. Perhaps it was another uncalculated human error: failure to observe and heed the road signs.

Indeed road signs are important. Accident-prone areas have cautionary signs to help motorist avoid accidents. They are there precisely for safety reasons. They protect life and ensure the security of people. Many times, however, these signs are taken for granted. They are over-looked and thus safety is most often compromised. Sometimes, it would even seem that these road signs are useless. They don’t serve their purpose at all because there are those whom we might call “road sign illiterates.”

One of the many metaphors of life is that life is a journey. We are on the road. We are travelers. Our destination is heaven. We are all going to God – the alpha and the omega of our existence. Like any road, there are smooth plateaus as well as dangerous and spiral curves ahead. There are many road signs for a safety travel. However, one could also notice distractive and destructive signs. There are signs that “distract” us from our real goal. They could be our addictions that can lead us out of the way and where we could get lost. There are also signs that lead us to our “destruction” even spiritual death.

Our Christian faith introduces to us Jesus who said: I am the way! He is the way that leads to life. Yet we may still be unconvinced to follow this Way. Yet God generously shows us many signs that point us toward this Way. In fact, there are many imperceptible and ordinary signs in our life that serve as pointers to Jesus. These signs, if heeded, could challenge us to anchor our lives in God. Scripture reading could serve as our natural road sign towards fullness of life. Its pages offer us guidance in the daily events in our life so that we could discern God’s presence in it. We simply need to be sensitive to God’s presence and action in our lives.

I attended one of the “Thanksgiving Masses” of our newly ordained priests. Frs. Ariel, Arvin, Marco and George Allen were ordained on May 24, 2010 at the Archdiocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in Punta Princesa. During the homily of Fr. Arvin, in his first mass in his parish at Sto. Tomas De Villanueva in Pardo, he mentioned that when his mother wanted him to enroll in Don Bosco Technology Center as a grade five student, he failed. The next year he made another try, he failed again. It was then that he attempted to take the entrance exam in Don Bosco Missionary Seminary bringing the story that he wanted to become a priest. Yet again he failed!

Instead of being discouraged he asked the Vocation Director if he could be admitted on condition that he would do well in his classes in the seminary. He was given a chance. This became his challenge and the chance to prove that he was not a loser all his life. Now Fr. Arvin stands as one of the ordained priest of Jesus Christ. The initial roadblocks did not deter him from pursuing his goal. He kept pushing on until he succeeded.God does work in mysterious ways.

Our life is made up of many signs. We choose to be attentive to the signs that point us to our destination. Whether they are clear or imperceptible they serve as guide to a meaningful life.