Editorial: What’s bad in Holy Week vacations

Monday, April 18, 2011

IT would be good if a survey is conducted in, for example, beach resorts to find out what percentage of those who have booked there this coming weekend are Catholics.

That would give us a better understanding of what Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma talked about in his Palm Sunday mass homily at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral.

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Palma’s admonition for the Catholic faithful not spend the traditional long vacation during the Holy Week “for a vacation, for going to the beach” is, of course, not new.

Bishop Camillo Gregorio of Batanes, one of the country’s favorite tourist destinations, and Auxiliary Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo of Cotabato tackled the same issue in interviews as reported by the Catholic Ucanews recently.

Gregorio’s statement was but a slight variation of Palma’s theme: “It’s saddening because Holy Week has become a time of vacation for some people. They forgot that it is a time and an opportunity for a deeper conversion. This is also a time where we can be one with God.”

Topping the list of the country’s favorite Holy Week destinations for tourists is Boracay. In Cebu, that should be Bantayan island. A beach resort there gained notoriety a few Holy Weeks ago for a bikini show that earned Capitol’s ire.

Deviation from traditional Lenten practice, however, is not limited to the Filipino celebration. Penance and fasting have been difficult to practice, whether this concerns the early Christians or the current ones.

It’s a difficult balancing act between living one’s faith and indulging in life’s pleasures, especially in the capitalist setup where the profit motive clashes with Church teachings.

On this, one needs to have an understanding of the principles that underpin such practices. Christians are taught, for example, that penance and fasting should lead to a deeper commitment to God.

Going on a vacation or spending time in the beach, therefore is not what is bad. Rather, the partying and indulging in pleasures that vacationing or going to the beaches conjure are what the bishops frown upon.

One can be on vacation and be in the beach and still go on “spiritual introspection” by spending part of one’s time in prayer and reflection or doing traditional church rituals.