THE FAITHFUL must ask forgiveness this Holy Week in ways that do not entail physical harm, UST Parish Priest Fr. Paul Talavera, O.P. said during Palm Sunday Mass at the Santisimo Rosario Parish Church on Sunday, March 24.
While some Filipino devotees reenact the passion and death of Jesus Christ, like those who self-flagellate and nail themselves to the cross in Pampanga, going to confession is enough to attain forgiveness.
“Ang sakramentong ibinigay sa atin ng Panginoon upang mapatawad sa ating kasalanan ay iyong kumpisal,” he said in his homily. “Hindi po natin kailangan magtupi at magpapako. Kailangan lang natin ng kababaan ng loob. Humingi ng tawad at ipagkaloob sa atin kung tayo ay tunay na nagsisisi.”
The Church has long frowned upon these traditions that have become spectacles during Holy Week.
Kalookan Bishop Emeritus Deogracias Iniguez Jr. said in 2008 that when the Church asked the faithful to be one in the sufferings of Christ, it did not mean it in a literal sense.
“Hurting oneself, according to Church doctrines, is wrong,” Iniguez, the media affairs head of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) at the time, said in a statement. “And it can be considered a sin if you do it knowing it’s not right. But if you’re not aware that these are not right, then you have not sinned.”
Kalookan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, the president of CBCP, told Radyo Veritas in 2022 that “doing charity, especially for the poor,” is the most important way to seek forgiveness.
Palm Sunday – also called Passion Sunday – observes Christ’s arrival in Jerusalem, accompanied by a jubilant crowd following Him throughout his journey. They laid garments on the ground and threw leafy branches out of palm trees. He was crucified days later.
Talavera said Christ’s final moments, which the faithful commemorate during Holy Week, demonstrated the level of relationship that people today have with the Lord.
“May mga bagay talaga na ‘di mo matantiya,” the UST parish priest said. “Kapag may mga nangyayaring maganda sa buhay natin, ‘pag may biyayang pumapasok sa buhay natin, ‘pag natutupad iyong ating hinihingi sa Diyos, ‘Praise the Lord! Praise God! Thank the Lord!’
“Pero kapag tayo’y nabigyan ng matinding hamon, kapag bumagsak tayo sa isa, kapag hiniwalayan tayo ng diyowa natin, ‘Hay naku, hindi na ako naniniwala sa Diyos. Wala na ‘yang Diyos. Nagdarasal ako pero wala namang kwenta. Para tayong mga taong sumisigaw ng “Ipako sa krus! Ipako sa krus!”’”
When people go through passion and suffering, they become closer to God, Talavera stressed.
“[S]a panahon ng pagpapakasakit ng kahirapan at pagsubok ng sakit na ating nararamdaman, doon mas lumalalim ang pananampalataya sa Diyos,” he said. “Doon natin mas naiintindihan at nagiging isa ‘yong ating paghihirap at pagpapakasakit doon sa hirap at pagpapakasakit ng ating Panginoon.” With reports from Sheila May S. Balagan
