Panginoon maawa ka

A young man has recently been ordained to the Catholic clergy. Ordination can be like a wedding. The bride and groom and their families have to be worried about many things. Invitations, dresses, church decoration, the wedding reception, rehearsals of the ceremony, and a host of other things. Important to the families, but in themselves really unimportant. So, in lesser degree, an ordination.

But in the actual ordination ceremony, the ordinandus suddenly realizes the meaning of what he is doing and of what is being done to him. In the case of a recent ordination, the young man was in tears when the choir sang the Kyrie. They sang it in Tagalog: Panginoon, maawa ka.

It was (he said) "a moment of awe, freely surrendering myself to God, knowing very well that I was weak. In the depth of that acceptance of my vulnerabilities, the one and only thing I could reply to Him was, Panginoon, maawa ka."

Panginoon, maawa ka. The Church still says it in the original Greek of the ancient Church: Kyrie eleison; Christe eleison; Kyrie eleison. But it is also said in all the languages of the world. "Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy." It is a cry from the heart of the Church.

It is the prayer that we ourselves need to make today: "Lord, have mercy on us." We need God’s mercy because we live in a society that deserves not mercy but wrath.

Ours is a society where human life is not respected. Journalists are killed to silence them, and the killers get away free. Witnesses with damning evidence against us are wiped out. So are rival politicians. Even priests are killed.

Ours is the kidnapping capital of the world. Kidnapping for ransom is a lucrative business. So is bank robbery. Practically every bank has been robbed. It is never safe to leave a car in the street – even if it is locked. "Carnapping" is a word coined in the Philippines.

But, are there no forces of the law to protect our lives and belongings? Unfortunately, the very forces supposed to protect us are often suspected as our attackers.

Government officials are corrupt, seeking only to keep themselves in power, promoting their own interest, not those of the people whom they swore to serve. Politicians and their cronies become rich, and the people become paupers. Even the judiciary is not free of suspicion of corruption.

Elections in a democracy are intended to be the instrument whereby the people can freely express their will. But in our country elections have become a farce. Voters are bought and votes often miscounted. And when protests are made, do they ever bring about justice?

Such a society deserves God’s wrath.

We need to pray as the Prophet Daniel did: "O Lord, we have sinned against You. We have departed from Your law. We have done every kind of evil. But, for Your name’s sake, do not deliver us up. Do not take away Your mercy from us." (Dan.3)

We have to invoke God’s boundless mercy. Panginoon, maawa ka. Lord, have mercy on us.