(We yield this space to the statement of the Philippine Faith-based Organizations Forum due to its timeliness. – Ed.)
WE ENTER Holy Week with sorrow, suffering, and sacrifice, not only spiritually, which our Christian faith moves us to do, but as actual, physical experiences. Remembering Our Lord’s passion has become a daily reality particularly among our sick, poor, vulnerable families whose experience of hunger, thirst, desperation, and pain calls us to solidarity, mercy and compassion. It is when we are almost empty that we must bring out generosity to those who have less in life.
Our commitment to cooperate with the government’s quarantine regulations may hinder us from fulfilling our traditional practices that have enriched our faith. Many will spend days of silence or engage in online services. But we know these are privileges only a few can avail themselves.
Instead of processions, people walk under the heat of the sun looking for food and demanding for their rights. Instead of reciting the Pasyon or singing hymnss, people express their pain on the streets and in social media. Instead of Visita Iglesia, people visit neighborhoods and back alleys distributing food and extending kindness, and in the process encounter the Eucharist in the faces of God’s people.
Great crisis offers greater opportunities to share in the sufferings of the poor and service of all people, as followers of Jesus. We see these as opportunities to deepen faith in God and love for this country. But we also see this as a mission to give a voice to our silent, suffering and socially-disconnected majority. We are called to raise their voices on their behalf, and as a community of faithful, allow this crisis to bring us closer as members of the human family.
Thus, in this Holy Week in quarantine, while we enjoin everyone to a time of deep reflection and reconciliation, we also include in our prayers to God and in our plea to government authorities these petitions to ensure that all essential dimensions of flattening this epidemic curve must include cohesive medical and health strategies, comprehensive support to vulnerable families in quarantine, and coherent planning.
Physical distancing should not divide us. Isolation should not bring indifference. Crisis should not conquer us. We implore our general population to make this Holy Week an occasion to connect to God and to connect with one another. Among other things, we encourage people to fast and abstain from spreading fake news, taking advantage of this situation to further disenfranchise the poor from aid, or engaging in conversation that divides rather than unites. Criticisms are necessary to promote balance and democracy, but this can be done in a manner that enlightens rather than insults.
This Holy Week, our churches will be empty. But like the empty tomb of Jesus after His resurrection, this means our Gospel of Life is proclaimed and present among God’s people, in their neighborhoods and in their homes.
