MANILA, Philippines - Two years ago, I had the privilege of working on a film that talked about a family who had a devotion to Our Lady of Peñafrancia. My father is a Bicolano, but it wasn’t until our first day in Naga that I saw what made this particular face of the Virgin Mary so remarkable. Whereas most kids in the Philippines learn from age two to call her Mother Mary, in Bicol, they simply say “Ina.”
We met with dozens upon dozens of people who told us their stories about Ina. They spoke of her with the kind of familiarity one reserves for close loved ones—a mother, a sibling, a friend who might as well be family—far from the image so many have held of this woman and Catholicism in general. The devotion was so thick and electric, so rooted in what could only be described as love, that I found myself literally weeping that night before I went to bed. Their love, as well as Ina’s, moved me.
But what I’ll never forget is what one priest told us: “Walang madali pagdating kay Ina. She doesn’t take away all your burdens, she doesn’t solve your problems for you. She is really like your own mother, in the sense that she sees what you are going through, and she’ll either grieve with you or cheer you on. She will protect you if the need arises, but she won’t let you miss the chance to learn from the challenge.”
We are a country steeped in perennial conflict, with news of contentious bills, tragic deaths, plagiarizing public servants, natural disasters, and millions of urban poor always inches away from our periphery. We are never without cause for concern, and on this day, on Ina’s day, I wish to honor her with a prayer for her beloved.
HOPE
Today, I pray for hope. Those who have lost their homes and loved ones in recent calamities still surround us, many of whom are still in great need. I pray that the hope that drove all of us to jump up off our feet and help may continuously burn within each of us, that the idea of a future where there are fewer in such dire straits will keep driving us to contribute to lasting solutions.
I pray for acceptance, for those who live and love in a manner we may not necessarily understand. Our gay brothers and sisters still deal with irrational hatred borne of others’ ignorance and misconceptions. May we stop seeing preference and instead see flesh and blood, people with hearts and hands and dreams of their own. May we see brothers and sisters, friends and colleagues, and people close to Ina’s own heart instead of a dated concept of what makes gay.
BURDEN
I pray for the artists—the architects of our culture and cartographers of our aspirations. Vaclav Havel once said that thousands-strong armies quivered in the face of a man with a poem, and so I pray. We carry both the gift and the burden of seeing what others may refuse to see, and so have a responsibility to play the part of society’s mirror. No matter the medium through which we choose to relay the message, may whatever we do be rooted in truth.
I pray for the return of the statesman—dignified, intelligent, capable, and trustworthy. Men and women who carry themselves with respect for the people they serve, who are more interested in fulfilling their duty than turning a profit. Lawmakers who actually understand the law, who believe in things like education, employment opportunities, meeting basic needs, and elevating the quality of life, who have values I would want my (albeit hypothetical) children to aspire to. People whose hands we feel safe in because we know that even on their worst day, they deliver.
TOLERANCE
I pray for peace, or at the very least, tolerance. We hear all these names in the news—NPA, MILF, Abu Sayyaf and so on—people fighting battles of which so little is really ever explained so as to understand. Whatever we manage to hear is mostly news of death and not nearly enough reasons why. We have fought for too long and have lost too many lives for causes that have been overshadowed by the war. May all this come to a peaceful end as swiftly as possible, for the sake of future generations who deserve to inherit more than armed conflict.
Lastly, I pray not for an easier road or an unburdened journey, but one that leads to a brighter destination for a nation and a people filled with so much promise. May we see our potential and capitalize on that instead of focusing on every little thing that has and can go wrong. As we move past our growing pains, may we find ourselves as more than a resilient force, but instead as one to reckon with.
But above all else, regardless of trial or triumph, may we be fortunate enough to tread the difficult path holding the hand of someone we can call ina.
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