First, we want to say thank you to all those who joined Ronald San Juan and his journey of faith. Ronald joyfully reached his destination and peacefully joined the Lord last Saturday at 10:40 in the morning. His father was told about Ronald when he arrived in Japan that Saturday evening. While the whole family felt the pain of separation, their strong faith kept them strong and still grateful to God for sparing Ronald more physical pain and rewarding him with eternal love, rest, and peace.
The Filipino community, especially in Joso, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, gave full support and joined the wake, the mass, the cremation ceremony for Ronald and to provide the care and comfort for Ronald's family. Ronald will be brought home this Thursday, to be buried in their hometown in Naga, Bicol. The family shared that Ronald's grandmother, the mother of his mother, also joined the Lord shortly after Ronald and so a joint burial ceremony will be held in Naga this week. Shall we all pray together for eternal rest and peace for Ronald and his grandmother and for peace and comfort in the hearts of their loving family?
There is also an urgent need for continuing prayers for world peace. So much brutal killings have been reported all throughout the world. Wars and conflicts persist and as our Mama Mary reminded during her apparitions, "pray, pray, pray for peace, for world peace. " Let our prayer be" may peace be with all, may God's peace be in everyone's heart, including ours."
Then, let us pray for peace in our nation. Once again, our country is in the midst of a crisis of faith and leadership. Clamor for truth and justice remains loud and strong, especially for those massacred at Mamapasano. The present clamor is an angry clamor. Will public rage escalate to another demonstration of people power in February? We all need to remain sober for us to clearly hear God's guidance and to see God's will for our people, for our nation. Please, please, we urgently need to pray, pray, pray together for God to show us the way to peace, the way to participative, people-oriented governance.
The present public outrage is understandable and should be urgently, appropriately, honestly, sincerely responded to. However, we need to pray that no self-seeking group will take advantage of present public sentiment and lead this nation to forget the abusive corrupt who need to be punished as well for stealing public funds. How many of our poor were deprived of life, shelter, health services, education and other public services because the corrupt stole public funds?
Let us also pray hard that our people are not misled by those posturing to be pro-people when in fact, they have not fully explained to our people the charges of documented corruption against them.
We also need to pray, pray hard for our people not to forget how, in previous administrations, votes were stolen, lives were taken in the still unresolved Maguindanao massacre, how many more died and remain missing decades after the Marcos dictatorship.
Let us pray, with urgency, as a nation that God will render justice and allow truth to reign without our people misled by insincere, power-driven individuals and groups. Let us pray for honest leaders to be sent by God to guide our people to God's path of truth, justice, and genuine public service.
Please, please, let us urgently pray together as a whole nation for God's peace to reign in and heal our land.