Observations on Lent 2007
That was perhaps one of the longest “Lenten holidays” in recent memory. Because the Prez declared today, Monday, 9 April 2007, as a holiday due to Araw ng Kagitingan, everyone gets a day extra to the usual 4-5 day “Lenten Break.” So, instead of packing the bags for the long trip back to Manila from wherever Pinoys spent their Holy Week, most are probably still sleeping off last night’s last luau right now. Instead of Easter Sunday being the traditional traffic jam day, post Lent, its going to be today.
I have something against the way Holy Week has become just an excuse for a trip to “summer capitals.” We’ve already bastardized Christmas by equating it more with that obscene fat man in a red suit than with Christ’s coming into the world for our sins. And, oh, don’t get me started with Valentines; here in the Philippines, the day that motels truly make a killing is on Feb. 14. It’s also the day that roses cost a pretty penny, and fancy diners are per reservation only.
I’m not being pious here; I’m simply pointing out that our holidays are losing the essence of what they are.
It’s quite fine to give presents during the yuletide. But as parents enjoin their kids to hang up their stockings in order to perpetuate the lie about some mythical obese gift giver that comes in the still of the night of Dec. 24, the children should also be reminded why the world – Christians and not Christians alike – celebrate this day. It should be easy in the Philippines; there are still so many belens around.
It’s quite fine to express one’s love in the one day in the whole calendar where a person is allowed to profess his feelings without (much) negative repercussion. And if lovers want to, ah, physically express their feelings, too, I’m liberal enough to tell them that’s okay, too, and minors better heed the sign outside Victoria Court. But I hope amidst the ratcheting of prices of commodities connected to love, people remember the essence of the whole emotion, the point of the whole day. Its a celebration of love, goodness’ sake. There are far more better and meaningful ways to show your Beloved how much he/she means to you other than the cliche teddy bear and bouquet of roses, or the fancy dinner. And maybe Significant Others shouldn’t be so materialistic, too.
I don’t think there’s nothing actually wrong with leaving the office at 12 noon on Holy Wednesday, getting packed and leaving the Metro on the Maundy Thursday for Bora, Galera, Baguio or wherever else. But people should find… I don’t know. Lent has always been the… most demanding of holidays in the Christian calendar. Fasting. Ashes on the foreheads. Retreats. Confessions. The pabasa and countless processions and Ways of the Cross. Bisita Iglesia. The hours-long Easter Vigil and the uber early Salubong. Some people even have themselves flogged, and an elite few allow themselves to be crucified as part of a panata, or sacred vow to God.
Amidst the sun and the surf, or the cool mountain breezes, people should find the time to reflect. It’s why its so long, this “holiday.” It gives us the time to pause and ask a lot of things.
At the very least, people should find a nice Church somewhere where they’re vacationing and attend the Easter Vigil. Or drop by a church or two. Or sit on the sand at sundown and have a little talk with God.
At least, I’m happy to see lots of people still attending Lenten activities, even in this oh-so-cosmopolitan Metro. The parish church here in Pandacan was jam-packed during the Easter Vigil. And I bet a lot of churches were also full of people during the Bisita. When I last went on one two or three years ago, I was amazed and delighted to see a lot of young people taking part in a tradition that was done by their ancestors. It has its Gen-X twists, of course – the laughter, the treatment of it as one big gimmick – but the kids know enough to stay solemn when they enter a church and pay God the proper respects.
Well. I hope the Call Center people got a bit of time to appreciate Holy Week, too. COMELEC virtually halted political activity with its Holy Week campaign ban, but the Call Centers kept going and going and going…
Oh well. Happy Easter to the other side of the world. Hope next year’s Lent is more meaningful than this one.
