Tomorrow, Christians in the Philippines will mark Palm Sunday, also called Passion Sunday, the first day of the Holy Week in the Christian tradition, and the Sunday before Easter, which marks Jesus Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem.
The celebration will enable the Christians, who constitute nearly 93 percent of the 110 million population—they include Catholics, Aglipayans, Evangelical, and Iglesia ni Cristo—to reflect on and celebrate the death and resurrection of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
The Holy Week, which ends on Sunday after tomorrow, is meant to be a week of looking inward as the Christian faithful follow the pattern of death and resurrection in their lives.
Given that the Holy Week occurs less than a month to the general election on May 9—for national as well as local officials for the next three to six years—we posit that there is so much to reflect on in our lives as individuals and as members of a nuclear family, the basic social unit that makes the community.
Much of that reflection during the Holy Week will carry in like manner the weight of our reflection, our political persuasions notwithstanding, on the forthcoming elections since those who will be carried to victory will have in their vision and mission the future of the present and younger generations of Filipinos, including the millennials and the Gen X generations.
For those who keep the faith, short prayers throughout each day of the Holy Week will keep them grounded as they establish a closer connection with God.
As a tailpiece while making the sign of the Cross, let us remember that Holy Week is a time of forgiveness as we prepare for the celebration of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to the Father.
A time to embrace our mistakes and shortcomings, and forgive all who had offended us.
After all, as Christians and devoted units of the Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth with about 2.5 billion followers, “We are the people of God; He loved us and chose us for His own.”
During Holy Week, Christians recall the events leading up to Jesus’ death by crucifixion and, according to their faith, his Resurrection.
The week includes a suggestion that people without hope die in despair. A society or world without hope degenerates into humiliation, indifference, fear and violence.
That is not our society.