C: Palm Sunday (14 Apr 2019) - ONE-WEEK LOVE AFFAIR - Lk 22:14-23:56

Today we begin the most important week in Christianity: the Holy Week. It is called “holy” because this week is sacred to us, being the quintessential event in the mystery of our faith. The same idea of holiness is conveyed in its rendition in other languages, e.g., “la Santa Semana” (Spanish), “la Settimana Santa” (Italian), and “la Semaine Santé” (French). The greatness of the occasion is even exaggerated in Greek with “Hagía kaì Megálē Hebdomás” which literally means “Holy and Great Week”. Indeed, this is a great week of our love affair with Christ Jesus!

Surprisingly, the Filipinos shorten the whole week into one day with their phrase “Mahal na Araw” (“Holy Day”). Nowadays, there is a conscious effort among liturgists to correct it to “Mga Mahal na Araw” (“Holy Days”) but it will take a long time to implement this revision to become a Filipino parlance. Nevertheless, I like the idea of treating the whole week as one collective day/happening, for, truly, they are. Our reflection should not be limited on what happened on Palm Sunday, but on what transpires in toto. Our liturgical readings of the whole week properly guide us into this crucial point of meditation on our collective response to Jesus’ act of offering himself for our salvation:

- Palm Sunday: As Jesus entered Jerusalem, the multitude rejoiced and praised God on account of the king who comes to them (Lk 28:19-40).

- Holy Monday: Judas Iscariot showed signs of being the betrayer with his critique of Mary’s action of anointing Jesus with expensive ointment (Jn 12:1-11).

- Holy Tuesday: Jesus revealed through a symbolic gesture that Judas would be his betrayer (Jn 13:21-38).

- Spy Wednesday: Judas went to the chief priests and offered to betray Jesus in exchange of 30 pieces of silver, thus, the coinage of the term “Spy Wednesday” (Mt 26:14-25).

- Maundy Thursday: Jesus washed his disciples’ feet while ordering (“mandare” in Latin is “to command”, thus, the word “Maundy”) them to do the same (Jn 13:1-15).

- Good Friday: Jesus was sentenced by Pilate to death as a positive response to the public clamor of crucifying him (Jn 18:1-19:42).

- Black Saturday/Easter Sunday: The tomb was found empty and the disciples were amazed at what happened; sadly, they did not believe yet that Jesus resurrected from the dead (Lk 24:1-12).

Surveying at what would occur this whole week, we can conclude that it is a one-week love affair. There is a Filipino Song entitled “Isang Linggong Pag-ibig” (popularized by Imelda Papin) that spells the same love-hate dynamics. The lyrics of this song narrates the tragic ending of a love affair between a man and a woman who fell out of love as quickly as they fell in love—all happening in just a span of one week.

Similarly, this Holy Week is a one-week love affair between Jesus and the people… from their warm welcome of him as he triumphantly entered Jerusalem… to their hostile chorus of “Crucify him!” (Lk 23:21) a few days later, which appallingly ended in Jesus’ death on the cross and the abandonment of his initial believers. The same crowd who shouted “Blessed is the King, who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Lk 19:38) were the same people who clamored for his crucifixion. Even Jesus’ apostles (save for one) were not present when he needed them most to stand boldly for their faith in him. The gloomiest fact is that one of them even betrayed him (Lk 22:47-48) and another denied him before the public (Lk 22:54-62).

Indeed, it is a heartbreaking week for Jesus. The disciples’ love affair with him ended tragically. But the good news is that Jesus’ love for them did not end, as he himself would initiate the process of falling back in love after his resurrection. Let us then take time to pause and evaluate our own love affair with God, and check if our song to him will ever become “Habang May Buhay, sa Iyo Ibibigay” (“With my last breath, my life will be offered to you”).

- Rex Fortes, CM