Lent is returning to God: A special prayer for EDSA ’86

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the First Week of Lent, 25 February 2026
Jonah 3:1-10     + + +     Luke 11:29-32

Praise and glory
to you, O God,
our loving Father
for the gift of EDSA 1986:
what a wonderful reminder
to us of your loving presence
among us,
of your work,
and of your call to us all
to be one,
to journey closer to you
in Jesus Christ in peace
with Mary His Mother;
how wonderful to remember
that EDSA 1986 
happened in the season of Lent
reminding us of the 40 years
of the Israelites in the wilderness;
so are we now still journeying
in the wilderness of independence,
of democracy;
many times we have stumbled
and fall, but we shall rise
to continue this journey of
purification as a nation,
as a people you have called
and chosen.

On this 40th anniversary
of People Power Revolution
that happened in EDSA,
I pray only for one thing like
the psalmist this day:

“A clean heart create for me, O God, and put a steadfast spirit renew within me. Cast me not out from your presence, and your Holy Spirit take not from me” (Psalm 51:12-13).

Create a clean heart
in me, O God;
let me return to you,
O God: 
EDSA was primarily
a call to return to you
but many of us were blinded
by its many joys of changes
like freedom and democracy
we have abused 
these past 40 years;
have mercy on us, 
Lord, let us return to you,
create a clean heart in us
that we may finally admit 
our own faults in tarnishing,
blurring the glow of EDSA 1986
through these past four decades.

Indeed,
many of us in EDSA 1986
have left the journey to follow
the path of the devil in the
wilderness,
pursuing fame and wealth
and of course, power;
create a clean heart in us,
Lord Jesus, so we may
return to you like Jonah
the reluctant prophet,
to simply be your one sign
of a prophet continuing
the journey towards you.

O God,
you have given us with so much
in EDSA 1986 but we have given
so little; like those four days of
February 1986,
let us forget ourselves always
to give more of our selves
and most of all,
more of you in Jesus
with Mary our Mother.
Amen.