Symbols in the world of meanings

The most famous historical event in Philippine history was the so-called Edsa Revolution. Thousands of people swarmed into Edsa Avenue on 25 February 1986 to face the armored tanks of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Who were these brave individuals and what did they symbolize? They were women religious (mostly Daughters of St. Paul) with many of them in their religious habit and holding their rosaries (symbolically like armalites) in fearless but smiling defiance of violent bullets that might blow them off into mid air. One beautiful symbol was when they inserted bunches of red roses into the mouths of tanks wiping them away like a mother swipes off the dripping nose of her baby!

The whole act was a great and beautiful symbol full of the deep yearnings of the human heart who says, “Get out of my way, I want to be free!”, her delicate fingers clasping the Cross the greatest symbol of love and peace only possible in the Sacred Lips of Love’s most beautiful symbol – the Source of Eternal Beauty, the God-Man in Jesus Christ.

But on the cross there are contrary symbols of ugliness and violence like lance, wounds, blood, etc. They all distract instead of attract; they make us perspire instead of inspire. We read in the Holy Bible that the enemies of Jesus conspired to have Jesus fired out of Jewish society so they would be free from the ugly, unwashed and unclean hands and presence of the “son of the carpenter”, son of Mary and Joseph of Nazareth.