A Back-to-Basic Holy Week
I grew up during the time when Holy Week or Mahal na Araw was solemnly observed. There were no distractions that time. There were virtually no programs on TV except Holy Week related programs and movies like The Ten Commandments and Spartacus. Even radio stations fell silent during Holy Week. Establishments like restaurants, shopping centers were all closed and the streets of Metro Manila were virtually abandoned. You had no choice but to stay home and think and reflect.
Some people go crazy during this time but it was okay for me. I was really the silent type of kid. I did play with kids my age but I also enjoyed being alone and just quietly sitting by the window of our Tondo house. Besides, there were a lot of activities going on during Holy Week. My mother would take us to different Pabasa; many families would go out for the Visita Iglesia, there were many processions in the streets of Tondo at that time, there was the Pagsalubong during Easter Sunday.
But times have changed. Social media and access to the internet have made it impossible to have any form of “alone” time. Even if malls and cinemas are closed, we can always watch movies on Netflix or any other streaming services. There are actually many restaurants that open during the Holy Week cashing in on families who go out to do the Visita Iglesia.
Is it still possible to have a truly meaningful Holy Week? I think yes. The fact that we do not have to work during the Holy Week gives us the opportunity to rest and reflect. And I think that is the first step. The Holy Week should be restful. That is the reason why a lot of families choose to stay home instead of going out of town. Many find it too stressful to deal with the worries and strains of driving or flying to another place and facing horrendous traffic. I bet you can find some peace just driving around the streets of Metro Manila especially on Good Friday.
In this day and age, I also think it is important to have the discipline to shun your smartphone and social media for a period of time. I really cannot fathom the addiction of some people to their smartphone. I see young people just flicking on their phones every minute of the day. I truly enjoy the wonders of new technology but I am not forever attached to these modern devices every minute of my life.
If you stay at home, there are many ways to reflect during the Holy Week. It does not have to be strictly religious if you are not into that thing. Although I find visiting an old Church and just staring at its facade truly meditative. But you can just stay home, listen to music and relax. Perhaps once in a while think about your life and how you can make it better. How can you become a better person, a better son to your parents, a better husband to your wife, a better neighbor?
I always find the Holy Week as an opportune time to reset or refresh my mind. I remember a couple of years ago Pope Francis, in his Lenten message, noted how “young people who walk down the street are focused only on their cell phones, but without peace, without hope.” He told people “to go back to the heart, to the essentials, to a simple life, stripped of many useless things, which are substitutes for hope. Today, when everything is complex and we risk losing the plot, we need simplicity, to rediscover the value of sobriety, the value of renunciation, to clean up what pollutes the heart and makes us sad…”
“We need simplicity…” What a powerful advice from the Pontiff. That is what we need when things become so complex and we feel powerless: simplify. And I hope this Holy Week would give all of us the opportunity to go back to the basics, to what really matters. And it is not your phones, it is the person or the persons you love and care about.
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