A NATIONAL PRAYER FOR MERCY AND RENEWAL

A NATIONAL PRAYER FOR MERCY AND RENEWAL

I write to you now as a fellow citizen of this nation—haunted, hopeful, and heart-weary all at once. The prayer penned by Fr. Tito Caluag is not simply a ritual recitation, it is a mirror held up to our collective condition: we are, as he writes, “like a stray sheep that has fallen from the cliff, clinging desperately to a brittle branch, crying out for rescue.”

Is that too harsh? Perhaps. But is it untrue? I don’t believe so.

The Valley of Darkness

We live in a time of dual sorrow: the visible wounds of calamity, and the less visible but deeper wounds of corruption, silence, compromise. Fr. Caluag names both. He speaks of floods, earthquakes, fires and typhoons—of a people battered, vulnerable. He also points to budget insertions depleting funds for the poor, political dynasties acting as modern feudal lords, infrastructure that robs us of progress.

And the data backs him. According to a recent survey, 97 % of Filipinos believe corruption is “very widespread” or “somewhat widespread” in government. The Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index in 2023 gave the Philippines a score of 34 out of 100 — ranking us 115th out of 180 countries. If you feel we are drowning, the statistics agree.

Mercy & Renewal—More Than Words

Fr. Caluag beseeches mercy: “Have mercy on us, O God, according to Your steadfast love!” This line (citing Psalm 51:1) is a confession—not only of our faults, but of our longing to be different. But here is my observation: mercy without renewal becomes a thin band-aid over a festering wound. If we cry “Lord, have mercy,” but do not allow that to change our behavior, we remain stuck in the same valley.

He continues: “You have told us … to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with You” (Micah 6:8). So let me ask: how often have we walked humbly? How often have we loved mercy in our dealings—with neighbors, officials, contractors, ourselves?

The Cost of Silence and Compromise

Fr. Caluag’s list of sins is not melodramatic—it is everyday: bribing fixers, tolerating lies in the media, accepting donations from exploiters, covering injustice with silence. These are our sins; they are my sins; they are the sins of a society that often opts for convenience over courage.

What’s worse, the wounds we inflict upon ourselves are deep. Consider the Philippine Statistics Authority’s data: in 2024, there were 225 occurrences of small-scale natural hazard incidents, the most frequent being flash floods (23.6 %). These disasters compound when infrastructure is substandard or funds are misused. The prayer’s lament about substandard infrastructure is therefore not hyperbole but reality-checking.

Hope in Action

But—and this is the pivot—the column does not end in despair. Fr. Caluag says: “We have failed, but we will not lose hope.” I echo that. Because recognition is the first step toward renewal.

What does renewal look like? From my vantage point it means:

  • Transparency and accountability: Officials and citizens alike must be willing to be held to account. The CPI ranking shows how far we are—and that the global average is 43, while ours is 34.

  • Civic courage: We must stop being comfortable with silence and complacency. The prayer’s call to “breathe into us courage to rise above greed and power” is a challenge to each of us.

  • Prioritizing the weakest: The survival of the weakest, not just the strongest, must be the mark of our humanity. Our policies, our compassion, our reforms must bear that out.

  • Walking humbly, loving mercy: Beyond the big headlines are daily choices—will I bribe? Will I tolerate the lie? Will I cover injustice? Will I spend one moment caring for someone weaker than myself?

  • Faith that transforms: The prayer roots renewal not in mere strategy but in the Holy Spirit—“Come, Holy Spirit, renew … the face of our nation!” The spiritual dimension matters, because moral renewal precedes structural reform.

Questions I Must Ask—And You Must Ask

  • If nearly 97 % of our people believe corruption is rampant, what does that mean for our democracy and our civic trust?

  • If disasters hit us again and again, and our infrastructure and budgets often fail the test—can we afford to keep things as they are?

  • If the nation is rich in resources, yet many remain poor, what breaks the cycle: stronger institutions or deeper personal integrity—or both?

  • And finally: as the citizen reading this column, am I part of the solution—or part of the problem?

A Closing Word

Fr. Tito Caluag’s prayer is not merely spiritual—it is social, political, moral and national. It invites us to stand before the Shepherd of our country, confessing our brokenness, but also committing to renewal.
 In the language of a newspaper column: our nation is crying out. The rescue branch is brittle, yes—but the Shepherd reaches. The question is: will we cling? And will we climb?

Let us hope, pray, act. Because mercy and renewal are not luxuries—they are necessities for our national life.

Ramon Ike V. Seneres, www.facebook.com/ike.seneres

iseneres@yahoo.com, senseneres.blogspot.com 04-08-2026

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