Holy Week in the Year of Mercy

Holy Week is very much a part of our life as a nation, starting with Palm Sunday today, ending with Easter Sunday. It seems that all our usual activities – work in most government and private offices, school classes, banks, malls and other stores, sports activities, even election campaigns – are suspended during this period. Metro Manila residents will be starting their annual exodus to their home provinces by bus and car, by ship, and by plane, so that by Thursday this week, Metro Manila’s usually jammed streets will seem deserted. Today, Catholics bring palm fronds – palaspas – to church to be blessed. In many towns, the chanting of the Pabasa begins. The usual programs on radio and television are replaced with solemn music and religious films. On Maundy Thursday, people visit several churches one after the other in “Visita Iglesia” and join in the Mass of the Lord’s [...]