Prayer for Cory*

(Inspired by Ninoy Aquino's poem and Joe Mari Chan's song)

Heavenly Father,

We have fallen in love
with the same woman three times:

We loved her first in 1983,
when she flew back home,
a grieving widow in black.
Her brood under her wings,
she wrapped her grief with faith,
and with all her heart,
she embraced our frightened, fragmented nation.

We fell in love with her a second time,
as she marched the streets,
a reluctant Moses defying our Pharoah
who demanded to “let her people go.”
She called down confetti rain,
and through her infectious courage
we crossed the yellow sea.

Today we find ourselves falling
for the same woman a third time:
Surrendering herself to You,
she gathered her pain and ours—
a wounded, bewildered, downhearted people.
Not once did she give up on us.
And in her death, suddenly,
we regain hope in ourselves.

Lord, we thank You for our love for Cory
for each time we fell in love with Cory,
we fell in love with country,
And we fell in love with You.

AMEN.

*Courtesy of Fr. Johnny Go SJ. The same prayer was used as invocation during the necrological services last night at the Manila Cathedral.

Goodbye, Tita Cory

Corazon Aquino, the heart and soul of the original People Power died today at 3AM after more than a year's battle with colon cancer.

Tributes are pouring in for Tita Cory. During the months and weeks that she spent at the hospital, local columnist and journalists have written about her. This one by Condrado De Quiros is my favorite.

To the reluctant hero who believed that the Filipino is worth living for, please continue praying for us in heaven!

A Yellow Ribbon for Cory Aquino

I was merely a sixth grader when Cory assumed the presidency in 1986. There are only two things I have memories of her as President of the Philippines -- coup d'etat and Kris Aquino.

Her spiritual adviser is a Jesuit though and it was only in later years when I fully appreciated her spirituality. Here's a yellow ribbon for Tita Cory. I'll say a prayer for her tonight that she, and her family, may be ready to fully surrender her life to God's will.