What the Holy Week
teaches
By
Fr. ROY CIMAGALA,
roycimagala@gmail.com
April 9, 2017
MANY precious insights and
lessons can be derived if we enter into the spirit of the Holy Week.
Let us thank God for all of them and strengthen our resolve to go
through the Holy Week keeping our faith and piety as vibrant as
possible. That way, we can predispose ourselves to continually discern
these insights and lessons, refining, polishing and deepening them as
we go along.
Among these precious
insights and lessons is the idea of human and Christian perfection
which, I believe, is patently shown by Christ as we liturgically
celebrate his Passion, Death and Resurrection.
For many of us, our usual
understanding of what is perfect and complete is when we manage to
pass a certain test, conquer a certain battle, win in a certain
contest, all measured in human terms.
That is to say, that the
victory and conquest is measured in terms of points scored, wealth
earned, popularity gained, or in terms of mere physical and mechanical
perfection.
Those standards of
perfection and completion obviously have their proper value and place
in the sun, but they definitely are still far from what is ideal to us
as persons and as children of God.
They are far too exclusive,
not inclusive, and are unable to find value in suffering, and reason
and meaning in the many human imperfections and natural limitations
that we all have.
It’s an understanding of
perfection that is not realistic, given our wounded human nature and
damaged condition. It fails to consider many other things that are
unavoidable in our earthly life.
In this Holy Week, from
Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, riding on a donkey, to his
death on the cross and resurrection, what we see is Christ’s
determination to perfect and complete his redemptive work by obeying
the will of his Father, no matter what it costs.
Our idea of human and
Christian perfection has to conform to that model shown to us by
Christ. It can be very strict and demanding insofar as the human and
natural standards are concerned, but all of that should not in any way
undermine the charity and mercy that has to be extended to everyone no
matter how they are.
We have to realize that our
human and Christian perfection is achieved to the extent that we
follow Christ all the way to the cross so that we too can share in his
resurrection. It is a perfection that will always involve suffering,
that is, the cross of Christ that paved the way to his resurrection.
What the Holy Week teaches
us is to train ourselves to suffer with Christ, to take up the cross
of Christ without fear. We should be reassured of the victory that can
be the consequence of this attitude, banking also on the reassurance
that was once expressed by St. Paul:
“No temptation has overtaken
you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful. He will not
let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted,
he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” (1 Cor
10,13)