Our Lady at EDSA

For those of us who are Catholics, the role of Our Blessed Mother as mediatrix of graces at EDSA 1986 is part of our religious history. Her towering statue at the EDSA Shrine says it all. Allow me then to link our moral-social-economic victory twenty years ago with Mary’s "Magnificat."

I. "He has shown might with his arm; he has confused the proud in their inmost thoughts." (Lk. 1:51). One Body. Moral Revolution.

EDSA 1 was a moral victory, a conversion of the human heart. For so many years, during the Martial Law regime, the truth was hidden from us in so many ways. And so in God’s own time, truth was vindicated in our land. I was privileged to have met those PICC computer programmers who courageously walked out en masse because they could no longer stomach the lies and cheatings which were done after the snap elections. And I considered it an even greater privilege to have played a part in hiding them for several days when they were being sought after by the authorities.

Christ’s moral victory was one of truth vs. lies, of power for people vs. power over people, of God vs. Caesar. (Jn. 18: 28-40; 19: 1-16). As followers of Christ, we are to continually witness to the truth — for it is the truth that really sets us free. Not only at EDSA 1, but today!

II. "He has deposed the mighty from their thrones, and raised the lowly to high places." (Lk. 1:52). One People. Social Revolution.

There at EDSA twenty years ago, we broke through socio-economic barriers and status discrimination, another manifestation of God’s loving intervention. We experienced strong solidarity and brotherhood with one another. The "insulares" and "peninsulares" from Makati and the "Indios bravos" from Sapang Palay and Tondo were arm-in-arm at the human barricades. They prayed together. They laughed together. They wept together. Many of them even slept at EDSA together. Even their vehicles were symbolically in solidarity with one another – jeepneys parked in the middle of the road, side by side with Mercedes Benzes, to block the tanks from attacking. For one, brief, shining moment that was EDSA, the Lord made us experience what living the Eucharist really meant, in intimation of what real, human community can be, the beginning of a social revolution. All of a sudden, EDSA turned into a huge temple of God, sheltered by the open sky, full of His non-violent people, banded together for a common purpose.

We urgently need to revive that spirit today. This is God’s wake-up call as we commemorate the twentieth anniversary of EDSA. If we did it then, we can do it again. We do not have to literally go back to EDSA, but we can certainly do it in our respective places where the Lord has assigned us to love and to work.

III. "The hungry he has given every good thing, while the rich he has sent empty away." (Lk. 1: 53). One Bread. Economic Revolution.

At EDSA then, for days and nights, no one got hungry. Food was shared with whoever needed it. Those who had gave to those who did not have. Food centers, dispensing food for free, were located at various places. EDSA became one huge eucharistic table of the Lord, and with Him, we broke bread with one another in compassionate brotherhood.

On the second night of the revolution, I remember a poor woman who approached me. She was alone, and was in her last stages of pregnancy, and could hardly carry a big plastic bag of sandwiches. Naka-tsinelas at hindi maka-ugaga. "Saan ko po ba maaaring ibigay ang mga sandwiches na ito? Gusto ko po lamang makatulong, kahit na papaano." I felt a lump in my throat as I took the bag and assured her that I would take it to the nearest food center, while she hurried home because she felt that her delivery was fast approaching.

The challenging opportunity from God still goes on. We are slow learners, are we not? Even inspite not only of EDSA 1 but also of EDSA 2. Our mission continues. Is it a mission impossible? With Christ and his mother by our side, nothing is impossible! Let us give our human best, and carry on…