Before celebrating the Evening Mass (which I would not attend because my mom was still not finished revising her dissertation), here are a few points to think about as we meditate on the Lord's death and Resurrection.
I believe that Holy Week is not just a Catholic celebration. Non-believers might just as well trash all the Catholic traditions that we have, most especially the habit of fasting and abstinence during Good Friday, or the processions that caused traffic all around cities in the Philippines. But I believe that they are missing the point of this celebration, for I see it as a celebration of something universal, that which we can experience as human beings.
What is important is the fact that holy week is a celebration of love. As I have mentioned previously, it is commemorating a love that could be understood only in the eyes of faith, and these three holy days invite us to pause, take a moment, and reflect on this love.
And these things I discovered about loving and giving oneself to a friend.
Love, in fact, is really a very painful reality that we have to face. To love is indeed to literally learn to let go, allow the other to penetrate into your life, and have time take over and make room for growth of both self and the other. And this would be a very painful experience, more like attempting to stretch yourself towards someone who is completely different from you. To love is precisely to fully accept the beloved as another.
Even until death. Jesus accepted us for who we are, sinners yet loved by the Lord. He accepted us as we really are, and He even died and fought for our dignity. And for this, he died for us and saved us.
Are we ready to die and give ourselves for others? Are we ready to accept people for who they are, letting go of our boxes and allowing that other to show himself in time, with us accepting and recognizing them?
Indeed, love transgresses the law of nature and logic. It is the anomaly in the system, yet this anomaly keeps life going, keeps the world turning around. In the end, it is love which kept and is keeping us alive. Yes, love might have the most irrational reasons and ways we would never understand. Yes, love makes us do the things we have thought impossible. But love makes us realize that life is, and will always be a mystery, a colorful blinding light which allows us to, in an ironic manner, see the goodness of everything. It reminds us of how exciting and surprising life is.
Love and death? Heck, it doesn't even end there. The more we give ourselves to others, the more that we understand what life is all about. The more that we give, the more that we appreciate everything as a gift, hence the more that we receive and thank. Indeed, our own experience of loving is our own experience of death and resurrection. It is an experience of new life altogether, as we gain a new and richer idea of who we are and what we could be, as tightly bound to the other, as connected to Him who is the giver of everything.
And may we learn this from the way Jesus loved us and gave His life up for us. Indeed, Christ shed light upon our lives in more ways than possible. An advanced Happy Easter!
Up next, a reflection on the road to Emmaus.
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