My heartfelt gratitude to Fr. Vic de Jesus, SJ; Fr. Randy Flores, SVD and other members of clergy, parishioners of the Sacred Heart Parish - Shrine and devotees of Sacred Heart of Jesus of the Diocese of Cubao – men and women who know what it means to cling to God’s heart when the world feels cold, unjust, and unyielding.
Naimbitahan po tayo para ibahagi ang ating pananaw sa tanong na: “What does God’s love mean in the midst of injustice?”
Mahirap po itong sagutin. It is not theoretical. It is lived, wrestled with, sometimes doubted, sometimes rediscovered.
Ibinahagi ko ang sagot ko tungkol dito bilang isang tao na di-makatarungang ipinakulong nang halos pitong taon – pinaratangan nang walang basehan, siniraan, pinukol ng kung ano-anong kasinungalingan, at pinagkaitan ng kalayaan at pagkakataong makasama ang pamilya.
For a time during the initial period of my unjust detention, I thought God had abandoned me. But over time, I realized that even in that silence, God was not absent. He was simply teaching me to listen, not to the noise of anger, or bitterness, but to the steady rhythm of His love.
I have long been drawn to the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Even before my detention, it was my anchor. It keeps me grounded. But I understood it more deeply in prison.
The Heart is wounded, bleeding, crowned with thorns, yet encircled by fire. Wounded, yet burning; pierced, yet alive. That paradox is the mystery of love itself: suffering that does not harden, pain that does not extinguish compassion.
We ask ourselves: how do we honor God’s heart today, in a society still pierced by greed, violence, and deceit?
We honor it by standing beside those whom the world pushes aside: the farmers dispossessed of land, the families displaced by flood and corruption, the journalists red-tagged for speaking truth, the youth who dare to dream beyond fear.
God’s love in the midst of injustice is a love that fights. It is not neutral. It takes sides – always with the oppressed, the silenced, the despised. It is a love that listens to the cry of the poor and answers not only with sympathy but with solidarity.
And if you ask me now, after all those years in solitude, what God’s love means in the midst of injustice, I will say: it is the flame that survived the darkness. It is the heartbeat that kept me human. It is the power that turns pain into purpose.
May we keep that flame alive. May we guard it against cynicism and weariness. And when we see the thorns of cruelty pierce our world again, may we answer as the Sacred Heart did: by burning brighter.
Wishing everyone a Blessed Sunday!
