March 29, 2024
Over this Easter Weekend, the International Interfaith Network of ICHRP would like to present four Prayers for Peace, which we will publish daily over the weekend. These prayers were submitted by members of the Interfaith Network. They help us reflect on our role as people of faith in the struggle for justice, peace, and human rights in the Philippines.
Today’s prayer was written by Reverend Ariel Siagan of the United Church of Canada.
Jesus, the suffering servant, you who bear the sins of the world bringing it with you on the Cross, we come to you with a heavy heart compounded by the unjust situations in our country. You have come to the world to make right and restore our relationship with you, and us to one another. Because of your suffering on the cross we live under the regime of grace, that you may be able to forgive us and us to forgive one another. But Lord, the relationships we have with one another are the opposite of your regime of grace. Our government officials are leading a regime of greed for power and money. Lord, peasant communities in our beloved country still do not own the land they till. Because many rich families still hold on to the land they inherited from the colonial past, genuine agrarian reform has remained an unrealized dream. Lord, many people in the urban communities are suffering from threats of hunger and unemployment. Because our government leaders prioritize charter change that will open floodgates of exploitation affecting our people and land rather than creating industries where our people can realize their full humanly potential.
We realized that genuine agrarian reform and national industrialization are key issues that have to be talked through on the table of peace. May you illuminate the mind of our government that they may be compelled to talk with the National Democratic Front in the Philippines, to institute peace that is based on justice.
This we pray in the name of our Lord, who is suffering with His people. Amen.