Pinoy's Way of Life during the Holy Week

Tomorrow is Maundy Thursday and most Filipinos have already gone to their respected Provinces to be with Families to celebrate the rest of the Holy week. While some take this time to go to beaches and resorts to enjoy the much needed vacation. Away from the stress of work. This is the Longest vacation in the entire year and unfortunately it coincides on the days when we should be mourning for the death of Jesus Christ. The Holy week brings us a lot of traditions and customs that will tell us that during these days we should be more reflective on our faith than reactive to our needs.

Growing up, me and my family only spend the Holy week in two ways. One We'll travel northward to bulacan to witness how many Filipinos do their acts of penance on the streets through carrying the cross like Christ did or through what we call it "hampas dugo" where penitents whip their back to bleed. Some crawl the streets under the blistering sun and lie flat on their bellies on every station where there is a "pabasa" and their companions hit them repeatedly on the ass using a used rubber slipper. And sometimes a combination of these three. The Second way is we stay at home and watch what ever it is thats on tv. When the energy is still high when night falls we do the Visita Iglesia. Visiting seven churches within the area. That's how the Coronels spend the Holy Week. God I miss those days. I miss the Halo halo my mom would prepare while we watch the ten commandments on TV.

Unlike us many families travel not to their hometowns but to the different summer hotspots for vacation. I was surprised to hear on the news that Bora is implementing a no party policy on good Friday and the church is appealing to the clubs owners not to open on the said day. With this i can say that time has really changed.

I was watching a program on channel 7 earlier. The topic was all about parenting and how to maintain the house if there are kids around. I cant recall but one of the hosts asked the guest doctor a question. The question goes. Should parents try to conceal breakable decorative items on the kitchen and dining area so as not to be the cause of accidents with kids. What a question! I said to myself. It's a matter of common sense. Offcourse we should keep those things away from kids. But to my surprise the doctor answered otherwise. In order to promote familiarity with these objects it's not advisable that parents hide them from children, Parents should keep their kids aware of the things around them. Hmmm. Shes not a Doctor for Nothing.

I guess the same is true with whats happening right now.What should we expect from kids whose parents decided to go to Bora or Puerto during the Holy Week rather than take them to at least 7 churches to do Visita Iglesia. Can we expect that their children's children will still know the practices like the "hampas dugo" or the stations of the cross? I highly doubt that. So what can we expect 10 or 20 years from now? My guess is that people will be most merriest during the Holy week than any other day of the year. Dont even bother asking why.

I mean can you blame them? The children has only this time to spend with thier parents. 4 days of vacation. Would they rather be at home or on the beach? But nevertheless just like what they say. The important thing here is that you know the essence of the season. Why there is no Work on Good Friday, Why malls open on Easter Sunday. Im pretty sure sooner or later children will learn this at school especially if their enrolled on a Catholic one but the important thing here is that parents take the lead and be a part of that learning as well.