EDSA ANNIVERSARY 2014 - HOMILY OF ARCHBISHOP SOCRATES VILLEGAS, CBCP PRESIDENT
At EDSA love of God and
love of country came together’
(Homily delivered by
Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates B. Villegas, president of the Catholic
Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines during the Mass for the 28th anniversary of EDSA People Power Revolution on February 25,
2014 at the Mary Queen of Peace, Our Lady of EDSA Shrine.)
Father Nilo (Mangussad,
rector of EDSA Shrine) did not invite me tonight. I volunteered. I sent him a
text message and I asked him for the schedule of 5:30 (pm) on February 25 and
he said it would be Father Benjo. So I texted Father Benjo and I said, “May I
say mass on February 25 at 5:30?” And both of them said “Yes” and gave me
permission.
EDSA People Power is 28
years old and so is my priesthood. I am 28 years a priest. I’m as old as EDSA
People Power. When the Church sent me to Bataan each time I looked back at
EDSA, I looked back at EDSA with gratitude, with happiness, with joy, and with
pride. And now in Dagupan I still remember EDSA People Power with so much
fondness and someday when I’m old and wrinkly I will sit down and write my
memories about EDSA 1986. But I have mixed feelings today. On one side I am
happy and grateful to remember, but on the other side I am sad and lonely and I
ask myself, “is this all that is left?” After 28 years is this all that we can
gather to thank the Lord for an event that made Filipinos 10 feet tall in the
family of nations. I cannot resist returning to the Gospel, and returning to
the question of the Lord after he cured 10 lepers and only one returned, and
said, “Where are the other nine?” But I am not here to accuse you. I am
not here to make you sad. I am not here to contaminate you with my sadness and
loneliness. I am here to bring you joy, the joy of the Gospel, the joy of the
Lord.
So with remnants like us
and a bishop coming down from the north to be with you and to celebrate and to
make sure that the EDSA spirit is not forgotten, then I ask myself, “What is
EDSA about?” The celebration of the EDSA anniversary has taken many faces, it
has taken many forms. For some people, they celebrate it on the 22nd of February, the focus is the military. For some people they
celebrate it on February 25, evening, because that was the time when the former
president fled. For some people it is noontime of February 25 because that was
the time when the first Lady President took her oath. For some people it is salubungan;
for some people it is confetti. For some people it is picnic. For some people
it is being offered a boiled corn by a beggar. What is EDSA really about?
Brothers and sisters you
can approach EDSA from any angle but just don’t forget one component. You
cannot tell and retell the story of EDSA without God. You can tell the story of
Tita Cory but don’t forget that she prayed the rosary with us. You can tell the
story of Cardinal Sin but do not forget that he was first man of God and the
Church before being a man of the streets. You can tell the story of the
military, of the businessmen, of the professionals, of the soldiers, of the
nuns, but please remember all the time, that the soldiers, the nuns, the
businessmen, politicians, cardinals, bishops and priests, all of them will be
nothing if God did not walk with us on this hallowed ground in 1986. Sometimes
we forget, and sometimes we claim the honor that belongs to God as our own.
Tita Cory has passed on
to eternal life and so has Cardinal Sin, and so has many EDSA heroes, but my
dear brothers and sisters in Christ, no matter how you retell the story of
EDSA, I plead with you on bended knees, do not forget the rosaries you prayed;
do not forget the image of Our Lady of the Immaculate Heart that we put on top
of tanks. Do not forget the bibles that we read. Do not forget the concrete
pavements that we knelt on, into midnight, into the morning, praying the rosary
for deliverance from slavery. There can be no EDSA story without God. But it
seems God is so used to being set aside. Even if we set him aside he continues
to bless us, it seems. But our country, our government cannot move on if it
continues to ignore God. I am not even talking about Church. I am just talking
about God. Muslim or Protestant, Buddhist or Hindu, Christian, Iglesia ni
Kristo, whatever, we must always remember that our lives are in the hands of
God.
But what did we do in
EDSA 1986 that made it so extraordinary? It is this. Our faith in God got
married with our love for country. At EDSA love of God and love of country came
together. That love of country is not alien to somebody who follows the Lord.
And love of country would be empty unless it is grounded on the love of God.
Through the years after EDSA 1986, the spirit has been manipulated, abused,
raped, prostituted. But we must always return to it. EDSA was a gift from God
and it will always be so. Can we do it all over again? I don’t know. Do we have
to do it all over again? I hope not because 20 years of dictatorship and four
days of EDSA should be more than enough for us never to repeat the mistakes of
history. Shall we live it again? God forbid no more because if we have to do it
again it will only mean we have not learned our lesson. Cardinal Sin used to
say, tongue in cheek, “to err is human; to forgive is divine; but to repeat is
stupid.”
Let us allow EDSA to make
us wiser. Let us allow EDSA to keep us vigilant. In EDSA 1986 we told the whole
world, God is with us. At EDSA 2014 the question I throw to you is, “Are you
still with God?” The issue is not God is with us. The issue is: Are with God or
have we strayed from the path of God.
I will return to Dagupan
but I leave with you one request. Please take care of this hallowed ground.
This church, this place minus Megamall, minus Robinsons Galleria, this place is
sacred. Please take care of it. Even if you are only one of the ten lepers who
would thank the Lord, take care of it nevertheless. Even if you are only a
handful remnant remembering our moment of glory, stand on this holy ground
nevertheless. You know why I asked Father Nilo for permission to say Mass
tonight? It is because I need the spirit of EDSA. I will return to Dagupan
strengthened, invigorated, energized because this church is special; this
hallowed ground will always remain holy. Take care of it, against all odds. And
please tell your children and your children’s children that EDSA is holy and it
is people that will keep it holy, and that is you.
If they want to celebrate
EDSA in Cebu; if they want to celebrate EDSA in Baguio; if they want to
celebrate EDSA in Mindanao, let it be. But for you, EDSA Shrine community,
stand on this ground because here on this ground, you and I and God had a brief
loving encounter for four days and history cannot be changed anymore. On this
hallowed ground, for four sacred days the blessed Virgin Mary walked with us;
the Lord of Peace walked with us. Keep it sacred, no matter where you go,
because here you will always find the living God.
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