It is Good Friday.
One of the most take for granted roles in our lives is that of spiritual leadership. The differences among the many religions do not necessarily contribute to the weakness of instruction in this aspect. In fact, because there are so many faiths, they have become quite specific. And because they are now specific, it should be easier to profess and practice. However, the best scripture quoters barely make any sense during their past-midnight broadcasts; the most popular charismatic icons seem to be intensely politically inclined more than anything; and the so-called devout leave the entire burden of thei children's religious exploration to the so-called 'pros' of the educational system--- sometimes comprised of violent (if not malicious) members of the church.
It could be scary for parents to teach religion to their kids because we, as members of a particular faith, strongly believe that this faith should be treated with utmost respect and expertise even! I am a Catholic, and just recently, I was asked by my daughter who Salome was. I have very little knowledge about Salome, one being she was a dancer who asked for the head of John the Baptist. Put the entire conversation together and you'll get questions like, "What's bad about dancing...? They cut off heads of people...?!"
Honestly, I am the worst person to ask about religion. I laughed at Rex Navarete when he said that the Santo Niño was a Pinoy superhero action figure, complete with a cape and a small globe in its hand that was used as a weapon.
My daughter, on the other hand, has a natural penchance for religion. She asked me to buy her bible stories and she also fancies our yearly Holy Week activities such as the processions of bultos (huge scupltures of Jesus' passion and death) and the visita iglesia (visitation of 7 churches). Every now and then, she thanks me for naming her Helena, her 2nd Catholic name (the first being Rocio), although I named her that not because Helena found the holy cross but because she was a queen! It is clear: I am not a religion teacher, and I never pretended to be one. It would be fair for God to strike me down with lightning if I ruined my daughter's good, practically unaided faith.
So, here is another Good Friday, which I described to Rocio as the day they killed Jesus. She will ask me what is good about that, and I will attempt to answer with the generic salvation speech. She will not understand it. She will ask me about flagellation, which is absurdly popular in the Philippines, and I will probably admit to her that it is sometimes just for show. I will not lie to her about some people's dishonesty, especially during lent. I have the option of letting her watch my uber favorite Jesus Christ Superstar, but she will most certainly look at the passion and death of Christ as a circus immediately after. All other movies related to lent will make her sleep.
Here is another Good Friday and there is really nothing good about it.
Our family bultos: Salome and Jesus (scourging at the pillar)
2 comments:
Hello! Jim and I were on our way to do our chores for next week and do our shopping for this Sunday which is of course Easter. Along the way I mentioned to Jim about my plan to go to church later tonight not for the "visita Iglesia" but just to pray and stay for the vigil. I didn't even encourage or talk him into going with me since he'll never unerstand the significance of it even if he is a Christian (a Methodist but we compromise and attend the Presbyterian services on Sundays). Anyhow, after finishing our grocery shopping, we decided to have something to eat so for convenience's sake, we grab 3 hotdogs (2 for me - but no buns and he had one - with buns). I almost choked at the last bite of my second hotdog because I realized that is was Maundy Thursday and I am supposed to abstain from meat. Here is the deal: like Rocio, he asked what the word "Maundy" meant. Well (with a matching head scratch, I responded with hesitancy (because I wasn't completely sure) that it might have come from the word "mandate" but then again, I didn't seem to make the connection with the events on that particular day. I just explained that Thursday was when Jesus washed His apostles feet and they had their last supper. Still, I could not make the connection. So, the moment we got home, www.dictionary.com came to the rescue. So I was right about the root word nad it was Jesus' command - "mandate" for Him to wash the apostles feet. So in a bit, I will go explain to Jim what it is all about. Gisele, yyou might want to do the same thing to Rocio. Anyhow, going back to my hotdog story, yes I almost choked on the last bite of the second piece of meat. I actually was hesitant to eat anything at first since I am on a strict no carb diet (and pasta does not count as carb for me) and so for weeks now, I have been having just one scoop of high protein drink for breakfast and lunch. So I pretended to go to the men's room (or in Philippine terminology - CR) and threw almost all of the 2 hotdogs. No people, neither am I anorexic (yet) nor bulimic. He was just responding to my statement that I felt week and I did forgot that today is Thursday. Tomorrow is Good Friday and I will be back to my usual 2 scoops of protein drink and just like Gisele, it will not be a good Friday and cetainly not my Best either since it will be hard cooking 2 whole legs of lamb to feel 10 Jewish friends and can't even eat it since I will still be abstaining and will still be on a diet - of 2 scoops of high protein drink for the whole day. Then Easter comes and yes, we will all celebrate Jesus' resurrection with 10 Jews. Isn't life strange in a lot of ways? Happy Easter everyone!
Hello! Jim and I were on our way to do our chores for next week and do our shopping for this Sunday which is of course Easter. Along the way I mentioned to Jim about my plan to go to church later tonight not for the "visita Iglesia" but just to pray and stay for the vigil. I didn't even encourage or talk him into going with me since he'll never unerstand the significance of it even if he is a Christian (a Methodist but we compromise and attend the Presbyterian services on Sundays). Anyhow, after finishing our grocery shopping, we decided to have something to eat so for convenience's sake, we grab 3 hotdogs (2 for me - but no buns and he had one - with buns). I almost choked at the last bite of my second hotdog because I realized that is was Maundy Thursday and I am supposed to abstain from meat. Here is the deal: like Rocio, he asked what the word "Maundy" meant. Well (with a matching head scratch, I responded with hesitancy (because I wasn't completely sure) that it might have come from the word "mandate" but then again, I didn't seem to make the connection with the events on that particular day. I just explained that Thursday was when Jesus washed His apostles feet and they had their last supper. Still, I could not make the connection. So, the moment we got home, www.dictionary.com came to the rescue. So I was right about the root word nad it was Jesus' command - "mandate" for Him to wash the apostles feet. So in a bit, I will go explain to Jim what it is all about. Gisele, yyou might want to do the same thing to Rocio. Anyhow, going back to my hotdog story, yes I almost choked on the last bite of the second piece of meat. I actually was hesitant to eat anything at first since I am on a strict no carb diet (and pasta does not count as carb for me) and so for weeks now, I have been having just one scoop of high protein drink for breakfast and lunch. So I pretended to go to the men's room (or in Philippine terminology - CR) and threw almost all of the 2 hotdogs. No people, neither am I anorexic (yet) nor bulimic. He was just responding to my statement that I felt week and I did forgot that today is Thursday. Tomorrow is Good Friday and I will be back to my usual 2 scoops of protein drink and just like Gisele, it will not be a good Friday and cetainly not my Best either since it will be hard cooking 2 whole legs of lamb to feel 10 Jewish friends and can't even eat it since I will still be abstaining and will still be on a diet - of 2 scoops of high protein drink for the whole day. Then Easter comes and yes, we will all celebrate Jesus' resurrection with 10 Jews. Isn't life strange in a lot of ways? Happy Easter everyone!
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