Speech
of
His Excellency Fidel V. Ramos
President of the Philippines
At the APEC Ecumenical Prayer Meeting

[Delivered in Malacañang, November 24, 1996]

Our strongest anchor

ON IMPORTANT occasions, it has been a proud tradition of the Office of the President to host an ecumenical service as a way of invoking divine guidance and blessings upon the nation. The historic summit of the Asia-Pacific economies, which in 1996 is chaired and hosted by the Philippines, is of great significance to our people.

Prayer, after all, not only prepares us for the tasks ahead but assures us of our strongest anchor as we perform the manifold and complex responsibilities of fashioning a program of governance that addresses the critical needs of our time.

The Philippines, like most nations of East Asia, is a country of deeply religious people. In fact, among the most phenomenal developments in the contemporary Philippine setting is the persistent proliferation of religious voices representing a wide variety of beliefs and traditions.

A profoundly ecumenical character

Such religious voices have now established ministries of almost every kind, seeking moral and spiritual renewal in all aspects of Philippine life, especially in the areas of social justice, economic sufficiency and political governance.

It is therefore no accident that the gathering of APECs national and business leaders has a profoundly ecumenical character. We believe that prayer is at the heart of all religious faiths—the common ritual of all who believe in the redemptive influence of faithful and mutual support.

Ours today is one fortuitous occasion where religion and politics meet. At a time when nations and peoples of one Asia-Pacific community are seeking ways that guarantee a just sharing in the bounties of nature and the wealth of the world, there is a natural need on our part to solicit the guidance and inspiration of the Almighty.

At a time when parts of the world remain in disarray and the human senses are filled with foreboding, we would do well to remember that God is only a prayer away.

The shape of the future

Sometime ago a prominent preacher remarked that our view of life today differs from that of our forebears in at least one aspect.

We who live in an age of advanced technology and amazing breakthroughs in science think of ourselves as the arbiters and umpires of life, passing intellectual and moral judgment on it. We see ourselves as the judges who decide the flow of history and the shape of the future.

Our ancestors, however, saw themselves standing in the presence of an Eternal Arbiter who judged them.

This garnering is a timely reminder to those of us who may be burdened by anxiety over the mounting challenges of disorder, conflict and insufficiency, a reminder that prayers and religious rituals, however imperfect, can be a great source of hope and power.

Somehow the world community must also take time out for a moment of spiritual communion if we are to rise above the difficult conditions of our time.

This was the spirit of that famous passage in the Gospel of Matthew (4:4): “No one lives by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”

The world today faces problems of enormous magnitude on all fronts, and such problems are likely to be around long enough to inflict more suffering and pain on the lives of many.

This explains the conscientious efforts of world leaders to forge the best possible cooperation among nations that would respond to the urgent demands of the most afflicted and, at the same time, shape a global social and economic order that guarantees the liberation of the destitute from dependence upon and exploitation by the strong.

Somehow, in the busy exchanges of everyday life, we must have the humility to pause and meditate upon the sacred mysteries of our faith, for they are the foundations of which our search for justice, prosperity and peace must be built.

Without these spiritual foundations, our resolve and best efforts would be wanting in depth and dignity.

The Psalmist of the Old Testament says it quite aptly: “Be still, and know that I am God. I am exalted among the nations. I am exalted in the Earth” (46:10).

But more than just observing the act of stillness, the Psalmist prompts us to the recognition that while it is within our calling to champion a justifiable blueprint of an ideal world, all such quests must end at the feet of Him in whose power alone the future become a brighter reality.

Communing with God through prayer

Every occasion of human life is a call to prayer whether it be a time of joy or of sorrow, of defeat or victory. It is only in prayer where we are able to establish communion with God, and only in that God-human communion can true miracles happen.

Prayer, after all, is not a mere human invention but among the central teachings of God himself.

It is significant that what we now call “The Lord’s Prayer” ends with our recognition of God’s ultimate majesty: “For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever.” To confess that the “Kingdom, the power and the glory” belong solely to God is to place our confidence in a God who holds the world in the palm of His hand.

While the presidency is hailed as the highest office of the land, there is a higher and more sovereign authority before whom the entire world bows.

Recognizing that higher sovereign authority, I wish to extend my hands of welcome to all of you with a prayer that, somehow, God may grace our summit and this fellowship with his most assuring and abiding presence and blessings.