The story is told about a 5-year-old boy who stayed home and did not go to church because of sore throat. When the family came back from Palm Sunday Mass, carrying palm branches, and told him that people waved them as Jesus passed by, the boy reacted: “The one Sunday I don’t go, He shows up!”
It’s Palm Sunday, the start of the Holy Week. It’s that time of the year when the Lord “shows up” in a very special and real way. Let us not miss the chance to be there when He passes by, and really follow Him and be with Him in His last night on earth, on His way of the Cross leading to His crucifixion and death, all the way to His resurrection.
We all have our devotions, practices and traditions to make the Holy Week holy. Fine. But let us do all these from the heart in gratitude to Him who suffered so much and died for us. And may these be not just devotional, bordering on the emotional, but may they overflow to real love of God and neighbor. And, may our “conversion” not just be seasonal.
The three Rs for the Holy Week: Rest, Reflect, Renew. Find time to be free from work to give REST to your body. Find time to free your mind from stress and worldly cares and concerns, so that you can REFLECT on the life you are living. Take time to be still, and to be silent, so that you can really listen to God speaking. May our rest and reflection lead us to RENEW our relationship with, and commitment to our God, to our loved ones and to the world around us.
The Holy Week is a good time for us to check the life we are living. “Live well, love much, laugh often.” May we not live vain and empty lives. May we love and keep on loving and forgiving pa more. And may we live joyful and peaceful lives, and become instruments of peace and joy.
Take the road of peace and reconciliation, especially this Holy Week. May God give us the grace to be reconciled with Him, to be at peace with people whom we have hurt or who have hurt us, and finally to forgive ourselves for all the mistakes we have done. It all happens when we take the road of honesty and humility.
The Holy Week is the time for remembering. Yes, we gratefully remember how He loved us through His passion and death. It is also a time to celebrate for He is with us still especially in the Eucharist. Finally, it is the time for us to truly affirm our belief that we will see Him again when He comes in His glory. Yes, we remember, we celebrate and we believe.
Join us in our Holy Thursday recollection at the Pink Sisters’ convent in Hemady St., Quezon City, 9 a.m.-10 a.m., and at 5:30 p.m. for the Mass of the Lord’s Supper.
Join us in our Good Friday talk at the Loved Flock Building in West Avenue, Quezon City, 9 a.m.-12 noon. For more details, please contact 3765780 or 09175645470.
Join us in our TV special titled “My Suffering is My Offering” 4 p.m.-5 p.m. over ABS-CBN on Holy Thursday, April 18.
Join us in the “Seven Last Words” via ABS-CBN, 12 noon-3 p.m. on Good Friday, April 19. And also, at the Easter Vigil Mass via ABS-CBN, 10:30 p.m.-12 midnight on Holy Saturday, April 20.
Think about this: “Learn to rest and relax. God is already at work. He will turn around every negative situation in your life, and heal you in every place you are hurting, if you let Him.”
Wishing us all a Holy Week that is restful, reflective and renewing. Wishing us all a Holy Week that brings us closer to God and to one another, and that makes us better Filipinos.
A moment with the Lord:
Lord, help us to make Holy Week holy, and every single day. Amen.
jorbos@inquirer.com.ph