"Sampit" is a Bisayan word for call, request, petition, or plea so Pit Señor is a shortened version of the phrase "sampit sa Señor" which is a call, a request, a petition, or plea to the Child King!
Cebu must now be very busy preparing for the celebration of the Feast of the Santo Niño this third Sunday of January! Novenas and masses have started, devotees in attendance with their prayers and petitions, commercial areas bursting with visitors, and happy reunions scheduled all the way!
We can again imagine the smiling faces of family and friends as they gather together for this occasion! Oh, how much joy as well as food and drinks will be missed by all those unable to join this happy celebration this time around!
Those blessed to be in Cebu for this event will witness various delegations from different parts of Cebu and even Mindanao who will present their beautiful dance interpretations. Aside from the sacred celebration, as we have already mentioned, many devotees will certainly be in Cebu to bring their various sampit, their various prayer petitions or prayers of thanksgiving.
With elections near, we will not be surprised if candidates will use this religious event as platform for their campaign. We wonder who among the politicians will attend this year's Sinulog? May they have the decency not to desecrate this sacred occasion to further their secular agenda to be noticed and remembered by voters during the May elections.
We sincerely hope that our Baby Jesus will shower the gifts of wisdom (to guide the voters to choose His elect), honesty (to enter the hearts of all candidates so the undeserving, on their own, will quit from the electoral race), and grace (for our country and our people, especially the most needy).
During this year's Feast of the Santo Niño, shall we all unite in prayer and ask the Lord to send us leaders to be elected this May by our people from among those who make themselves available to genuinely serve and lead for God?
As the January 15th reading of Living Water reminds us, many candidates forget to lead "for the glory and purpose of God" and instead are lost in pursuing their own interests. Voters as well are misled into following" earthly candidates" and forget that we all should continue to be followers of the Real King. Let us pray that the Lord will strengthen all of the voters to discern between the real servants of God and those who are there merely to serve themselves and their families. Let us continue this please, this sampit, until May.
Let us also pray that the Lord will strike down all the pretenders, all the undeserving among the candidates. It is high time for our country to be led by genuine public servants who are there for the glory and purpose of God. The faith of friends moved the Lord to heal the paralytic whom they lowered down from the roof. May the Lord see and hear our united faith and prayer, our united sampit for the Lord to heal our land, to send us His elected leaders, to guide our people to choose God's chosen leaders. Let this be the celebration that will lead our people to choose God, not earthly leaders.
Our ardent prayer this year, Lord, is for You to guide our people to choose You and Your chosen ones, not those who want the power for themselves and their families. Hear our prayers, our dear Santo Niño! Hear the prayers of Your people who trust in Your Kingship and who believe that You will soon heal our land. Humble us as a nation, as a people, Lord Jesus, and heal our land. This is our sincere sampit, this is our sincere prayer for this year, dear Baby Santo Niño!
Pit Señor!