HOLY WEEK: A time for contemplation or vacations?

“…that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death…” (Philippians 3:10)

If not all, some of us have the mind-setting that a little bit of summer’s what the whole year is all about: vacations, family gatherings, and doing activities that we do not usually do in our daily lives. We do all these when this awaited season finally arrives and basically, it is in summer where we get our well-deserved rest after months of doing our respective responsibilities at work and school.

However, in the Christian church year, there are two major cycles of seasons, one is Christmas, and the other one is Easter Season. Easter or ‘Pasch’, is both a holiday and a festival where the Church celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and prior to this Holy significant event is the Holy Week.

In the Philippines, ‘Semana Santa’ is a very significant religious time for Roman Catholics and most Protestant groups. Beginning Palm Sunday, Holy Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Black Saturday, and Easter Sunday, this is the time to Contemplate, be peaceful and most importantly, Holy Week is the time for Prayer.

But nowadays, many Filipino families celebrate the Holy Week differently. A college student said “We love having our vacation during holy weeks. Walang traffic and okay ang daan kasi hati ang attention ng mga tao, some are having their vacations like us, and some are staying at home ‘cause it’s holy week.”

Many modern Filipino Families already have their plans for Semana Santa and some of them prefer having their vacations or other fun activities than spending time for contemplation and Prayer.

A GKK member said, “Kami isip mga apostolado sa Simbahan, mas pilion gihapon namo nga mu-serbisyo sa Simbahan panahon sa Semana Santa. Unta sundon sad na sa uban labi na sa mga batan-on.”

The Holy Week is a very significant and holy time for the Catholic Faith. People might have their different ways of spending their free-time, but as Catholics, it is a great responsibility to celebrate this moment the way it is supposed to celebrated, the peaceful and the prayerful way.