WHAT makes this Holy Week different from all others in the previous years? Among the obvious is that social media is flooded with posts about binignit, biko, champorado, and congee with bulad. Trending posts to take the place of beautifully adorned carrozzas and the visits to churches are empty roads on one hand and the chaotic distribution of goods on the other. Nonetheless, Holy Week this year has gone very intimate, close at home and real time.
The Last Supper of Jesus happened inside a small and secret place. The Resurrection accounts were intimate encounters between Jesus and few of his disciples, like the two disciples walking towards Emmaus and Mary Magdalene at the tomb. More of the stories of the risen Lord appearing to the group of disciples happened inside closed door. Resurrection accounts in the Gospels happened away from the heart of the city, distant from the crowd and not within reach of the influence or power of any institution.
We are used to the Holy Week celebration as one big community of believers. The universal aspect of the commemoration has always been part of us. The Lenten observance that the Institutional Church teaches, we follow to the letter. Popular devotion has gone to mean for us a big crowd of people. There is nothing wrong with all these, only many times we forget to bridge the gap between what is ritual to what is real, what is liturgical celebration to what is social relation, what is solemn procession to what is communion among neighbors.
However, the simple fact remains that Jesus appears to his followers in a clandestine fashion. The risen Lord slowly re-introduces himself to his disciples in a silent and surreptitious manner. What happened at the Calvary was a scandal; it offended his disciples even as they were scared and disturbed. Hence, resurrection must first be a private encounter, paving the way to a personal faith experience. God is always patient with His people; he does it with utmost care because his ways are far from our ways. This is how sensitive this God is to our human frailty. This is the kind of love this God shows us. This Holy Week 2020, we are forced to see this side of our being church. Our desperate situation must not stop us from becoming the Church of Christ that we are; rather, we respond to this call of Jesus with urgency and importance, “You are like salt for the whole human race...You are like light for the whole world.” (Matt. 5:13 -16).
In the story of Noah, in the Old Testament (Genesis-6 ff.), animals were kept inside the ark for safekeeping. After the first sign of rainbow in the sky marked the dawn of new life, Noah released the animals for them to run free and multiply. The Church has always been a prototype of the Ark of Noah sailing thru the rough conditions of life. After God’s intervention, what is inside the ark must be set free to share the goodness of God’s blessing. In Easter, God has fully intervened in the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are set free, like the animals inside the Ark during Noah’s time.
Covid compromises our bodies but let us not allow physical sickness ruin our souls. Quarantine stops us from freely moving around to wherever we want to go but let us allow God to bring us where he wants us to go. Social distancing limits our physical relation with others but let this not separate us from our neighbors and friends. As disciples of Jesus, let us be reminded that when Easter first happened it was very intimate, limited to a few, and behind closed doors. At present, let us be proof that Jesus is Risen and that He lives to people nearest us. One meter is enough to know the needs of the person next to you. One barrio is enough to live as a Church where everyone is neighbor to all the rest. Friends, Easter is central to our Christian faith. All other celebrations in the Liturgical Calendar of the Church take their meaning from the faith that Jesus is Risen. Let us be salt of the earth and light of the world, regardless of whatever situation we are in. We are an Easter people and Halleluiah is our song...Happy Easter!!!