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One of the Philippines’ leading Catholic bishops warned Filipinos that God cannot hear their cries, including their prayers to end the COVID-19 pandemic, if they themselves fail to hear the poor, neglected, and unjustly detained.

Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, vice president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), issued this stinging rebuke as Filipinos observed Ash Wednesday on February 17.

A centuries-old Catholic observance, Ash Wednesday is the start of the penitential season of Lent. During this 40-day period, Catholics are expected to perform more prayers, fasting, and almsgiving as they prepare to celebrate Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection during Holy Week and Easter.

In his Ash Wednesday homily, David mentioned in particular the plight of Senator Leila de Lima, one of President Rodrigo Duterte’s staunchest critics, who is marking her 4th year in jail on February 24.

David noted that Ash Wednesday this year, February 17, is also the 4th year since the Department of Justice filed trumped-up drug charges against De Lima.

“If this kind of injustice can be done to a duly-elected legislator of the country, I wonder what it’s like for ordinary people who have also been unjustly detained for non-bailable charges and continue to suffer, away from their loved ones who need them,” said David, who had earned President Rodrigo Duterte’s ire for criticizing his controversial anti-drug campaign.

“If we cannot hear their cries, how do we expect God to hear our own cries? We can at least offer our Lenten fast for them, perchance the Lord will put an end to our own quarantine,” the bishop warned.

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David also cited the detention of Myanmar’s civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, after her country’s military staged a coup over alleged rigged elections. He called for prayers for Suu Kyi and the Catholic archbishop of Yangon, Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, whom David described as “a voice in the wilderness.”

In the same homily, David called attention to the plight of the homeless, the refugees, the hungry, and those left jobless by the COVID-19 pandemic. “Their cries must reach us first, if we want our own cries to reach the heavenly throne,” David said.

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Quoting from the Prophet Isaiah, David said that this is the fasting that God wants: “that you share your bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the homeless, clothe the naked when you see them, and not turn your back on your own.” It is only then, the bishop further quoted Isaiah, “that your cries can reach God’s ears.” – Rappler.com