POST HOLY WEEK REFLECTIONS

POST HOLY WEEK REFLECTIONS

Gone is the Holy Week. Gone are the “Holy Parties”. Gone are the “sacrificial beach funs”. Gone are the “colorful” processions. Gone are they all, leaving behind much confusion in the minds of the new generations.

My grade one grand daughter asked me so many questions during the Holy Week celebrations. Questions I didn’t mind asking during my childhood days and are now giving me some kind of reflective interpretations.

She asked me: “Lolo is St. John a male?” Confidently I said “Yes, he is one of the apostles”. My grand daughter continued: “Why does he look like a woman with long hair and shiny face?” I thought for a while before I replied: “Well, because he is the youngest apostle that is why he doesn’t have beards like St. Peter and St. James”. I don’t know if my answer convinced her but she asked another one: “Why is St. Martha dressed so beautifully, is she not supposed to be cooking? And why is she holding a key, did she lock the cabinets?” Those and many other questions that challenged what I thought before was my ‘encyclopedic’ intelligence.

While my grandchild kept on asking questions and while I continued answering her with childish emphasis, in my mind I myself was stimulated to ask so many queries. After the procession I went around visiting different Saint Owners who were all offering so many foods, never mind the ‘fasting and abstinence’ rule of the Roman Catholic Church.

It was while doing those rounds when a heard another child asked: “Why are they putting plastic flowers?” Casually I said: “To keep them fresh ‘till Sunday morning during the Salubong”. “How can they be fresh if they are plastics?” continued the child. I quickly countered: “For those flowers to look fresh at all time”. The child shake her head while protesting: “They are cheating the Saints?” Another child joined us with her own questions: “Why are the people getting the flowers?” Her brother called her and so the “interview” was ended.

Come to think of it. We are doing this celebration supposedly to perpetuate the story of salvation. But as it is, the correct story is not properly perpetuated. No wonder, many Catholics are already turning to other sects for their spiritual guidance.

Is it not a practice of idolatry to kiss the cross during the Veneration of it? Why are the Apostles included during the “Salubong” when they are supposed to be hiding because the people are mad at them? I think it is very important that things be clearly explained so that the new generation will find it more relevant than going to the computer to play or chat happily even during the Holy Week. Gone really are those days when Holy Week was Holy and people were pious. Come Holy Spirit, enlighten us all…

(Note: The above article was published last year and this year it is good to note that there was an exhibit of the different Saints at the Church Plaza with little explanations about the Saint or image on display. The display was only from 6:00 a.m to 6:00 p.m. Many didn’t have a chance to see it as it was so hot the whole. It would have been better if the exhibit was extended for two days up to around 10:00 pm.)