sacrifice

the Holy Week is about to end with tomorrow being Easter Sunday. the whole celebration holds a sense of wonder in the sense that the devout show just how devout they are. what makes the RP so distinct in its practice is well, the graphic nature of some people's devotion. question: is their practice a personal choice or did they acquire the idea of flagellation from their parents and so on? is this faith or taboo? what do they hope to gain from self-inflicted pain?



obviously i'm not well-versed with this kind of Christian devotion and i'm approaching this with an outsider's point of view. and i would look at this kind of practice in the same way i look at the hordes of people during the Black Nazarene. Is this their penance for their years of sin? do they hope to gain forgiveness through nailing themselves on the cross? basically if the devotees do find God in a personal way through, well, pain, then we should just let it be. any other intention would besmirch the already controversial practice.

I'm ending this post with more questions than answers. many say practices like these are taboo, but for the one nailed on the cross, the one with a bleeding back due to flagellation and the one carrying a cross made of an electric post, its an annual display of faith that is deeply cultural as it is spiritual. nothing wrong with that.

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what's my sacrifice for the Lenten season? i'm afraid i didn't cut down on my SMS and internet usage. i broke my fasts. i did do the Visita Iglesia and i did deprive myself of some good things. maybe next year then.

Happy Easter everybody!