when days are holy

most of christendom, especially those in the catholic religion, is well on the way to completing the celebration of the Holy Week. it began last monday and will culminate this easter sunday. it is traditionally a commemoration of the passion of the Christ, Jesus, from the time he entered jerusalem, to the crucifixion and then easter, or Jesus' rising from the dead.

much has changed now in the remembrance of these holy days. the kids of today have already lost the essence, the spirituality, that is supposed to mark these days. perhaps, we adults are to blame because we also have not fully kept the essence of the traditions. i am not talking only of those in christendom. i am also referring to those other religions that observe holy days. traditions are really difficult to preserve now. much is lost from generation to generation. the rituals, the acts, the accoutrements, may be there but the inner message, the inner meaning, the relevance to people's lives are so much reduced. of course, these rituals to have meaning must be internalized individually. what is most important to get this done is for people who have been inured in these traditions and rituals to guide others in the internalization of these so that they will find meaning and value with these in their own lives and in turn bequeath these to others as well.

when i was kid and even well up to my early university years, i was constantly exposed to the catholic traditions and rituals that my paternal grandmother was practicing especially during the holy week. she was a very religious person and i can sense her deep and sincere spirituality. since i exhibited genuine interest in what she was doing she made it her duty to teach me these traditions and rituals. she explained the meaning and the relevance of these to a person's life as she understood it and perhaps as what was bequeathed to her likewise by her old folks. i tried hard to imbibe these lessons. i tried to internalize all these. however, as time passed on and i was exposed to other spiritual modes of thinking and points of view, my internalization and interpretation of these traditions veered to a different path. yet, though i followed a path different from hers, the value and meaning of these traditions and rituals were never reduced as far as i am concerned. up to this time, these greatly help me internally as i face the tests of life. i thank my grandmother for imparting to me these valuable lessons. i will, in turn, find my own little way in bequeathing these to others.

times have changed now.

holy days are now holidays.

more people are wont now to celebrate these days in pursuing the "glamour of the outer life". that is why beaches are teeming with people during these times, and parties are being staged left and right where people lose themselves in sensual pleasure. the "glamour of the outer life", the enticement of  the "life of the senses" is so strong and it has greatly eroded or diminished the meaning and the spiritual value of the traditions and rituals.

the traditions and rituals are there to make us remember. the days that are marked as holy days were reserved for us to have time to rethink and reevaluate ourselves, to relearn what is true and what is important, to realize that the "glamour of the outer life" is a fleeting thing,

to affirm that if we declare so, each day of our life is a Holy Day.