Fr. Leo Pabayo
THE sovereign will of the people will again be tested in this coming election. We, the people, will need all the help we can get to pass this test. Of the many questions that we will be tested on, the most important one is whether we will vote according to our conscience. The mistake that we can make is to sell our vote. Aside from selling our votes we will be subjected to all kinds of dirty tricks to make the wrong choices in our votes. In the case of the political leaders or candidates they will be tempted to sell their political support to the highest bidder or briber, the ones who have the most money who can pay them for their support. To allow this to happen will be tantamount to betraying the sacrifices of our heroes who shed their blood that we may have the freedom to choose the kind of government and leaders that will truly serve us. This would also be like being a traitor to our fellow Filipinos who expect us to join them in the fight for good government.
The safeguards that the Comelec has installed to have a credible election will not be enough. Neither will the practical measures that concerned citizens have devised to check the shenanigans that would likely be committed by the corrupt politicians.
St. Paul says that we are up against “principalities and powers” and other the forces of evil that are out to spoil the good that we want to do in life. This is true with the political life of our nation, particularly on the matter of the election. We cannot therefore do this right without God’s help. We need also to pray for help from God.
“More things are wrought by prayer than this world dream of.”
This saying is very applicable for this coming election. Aside from buying and selling of votes many forces will be at work against a credible election. Many of these will be beyond our control. But with God’s help we can lessen if not eliminate the many evils that would undermine the election.
In every election we hope for a change for the better for our country. This coming election is another timely occasion for us to examine our consciences and repent of our sins, especially the many political sins that are destroying our nation so that we will vote according to our conscience. To vote according to our conscience should be our motto when we go to the polls to cast our votes. For our conscience to be operative however, we need to have it cleansed of unworthy motives that may influence our choices of candidates to vote for. Let us pray for the purification of our motives.
A prayer that is most relevant during election time is the prayer to Our Lady of Fatima. Election is a political exercise and the story of Fatima is very relevant to this. At Fatima the Blessed Mother asked the faithful to pray the Rosary in behalf of Russia at the time when Russia was undergoing revolutionary changes in its political life. These changes were brought about when a totalitarian form of government, namely, the Marxist-Leninist form of government that was imposed on the people by the political leaders of Russia. The result of this however was a new form of oppression that would be worse than the monarchical and feudalistic social order that Marxism-Leninism replaced. The assumption of this new social order which was avowedly atheistic resulted in the vicious persecution of the faithful in Russia. The Marxist-Leninist revolution radically changed not only the political landscape of Russia but also that of Eastern Europe where the Marxist-Leninist ideology was also forced on the people.
It would take a while for the people and their leaders to see the error of this ideology. Many theologians and ordinary Christians believe that the insight to the error of this ideology and it demise was partly if not mainly the result of the humble prayers of the faithful who had recourse to the intercession of Mary the Mother of God who appeared to the children at Fatima, Portugal, with the message that the faithful pray for the return of Russia to faith in Christ.
In the Philippines the prayer to Our Lady of Fatima has become a model for praying for political change from dictatorship to democracy that was eventually realized in the Edsa People Power Revolution. The image of Our Lady of Fatima was one of the prominent icons that symbolized the faith of the people. The faith of the people was the driving force in this People Power Peaceful Revolution.
Although the prayer that Our Lady asked the Children and the faithful at Fatima to pray was that of the Rosary, it would be helpful if this is supplemented by a novena like prayer that is directly applicable to election. Election is really a form of a people power reformation if not revolution. Every election is about bringing some change for the better in the political life of our nation.
For this purpose I have decided to republish the Fatima Prayer for a Good Election that I had composed. This will be in Part 2 of this article.
