Louie


Tradition, The Danger of Religion, the perfect example of Contrition
& the only way to God.

I miss the Philippines, and during the times like Undras (All Saints day), Christmas, New Year and the Holy Week, are when it is more difficult to ignore this yearning and longing to go back home even for just a visit. Now it's the Mahal na Araw, it is during these days, that I can't help but remember the things I used to do when these holidays comes, and then I realized, we don't really do much on Holy Week, especially on Good Friday and black Saturday. This got me thinking, why aren't we allowed to do some things on Good Friday and black Saturday?

Even as a kid some of the things were told not to do on Semana Santa sound silly or superstitious, but I know that these Holy Week guidelines were created for a good noble religious reason, after all, the Holy Week is the time we commemorate the suffering of the Son of God.

Here are the list of top 5 things we are told not to do on Holy Week.

1) Don't take a bath.
2) Don't get hurt, else if you get wounded your wound will not heal.
3) Don't eat pork or any kind of meat, not eating at all is even better. (No rice? You've gotta be kidding).
4) Don't be happy, no laughing, dancing or partying.
5) Don't curse.

One of the things I believe, us Filipinos are blessed with, is the knowledge of this history that took place two thousand years ago, in general Filipinos knew this story by heart. This is one thing that separates us from the rest of other Asian nations. Mahal na Araw(Holy Week) is different, we take this tradition very seriously, I remember a man in our neighborhood in Q.C., named mang Eliseo, his nickname is mang Elising and people call him mang Elasing (Edrunk) because he is always drinking and is drunk just about every single day, but when Byernes Santo (good Friday) comes, he's very serious about his panata (holy week vow), all of a sudden alcohol doesn't appeal to him and he is able to go through the whole day without taking even a single drop of alcohol. A lot of Filipinos have all sorts of Holy Week vow, as a kid I did the pilgrimage to Grotto-Church twice, walking some 10-15 miles traditionally by barefoot (I wore a slipper however) to a church on a hill somewhere in the province of Bulacan (I can't remember the exact name of the place), it was weird but it was a fun experience for me and my friends. Some people even do penitence and even have themselves crucified on good Friday as a panata (vow). But what really is the significance of the Holy Week? What does people actually gain by keeping their panata(Holy Week vow). Although we are fortunate enough to know the story of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and as a tradition it is deeply ingrained in our culture, but sadly that's all it is to most of us “knowledge of the event” but the understanding of what really transpired in that event and the revelation of who and what God is like and the significance of that point in history to each individual allude most of us, even those who are the most religious among us. If you're not one of those who traditionally follow the Mahal Na Araw dos and don'ts, don't think you're in a better situation than those who do. Why?
I have come to a conclusion that the very thing that we think could bring us close to God is actually the one thing that prevents us from knowing and experiencing genuine worship of the real God. And that thing is called RELIGION, yes you read it right, RELIGION, someone might say, well isn't the whole idea of religion is to worship God? No, the whole idea of religion is to follow a creed that will supposedly please God. That if we're sincere and devoted enough to follow this creed it might be good enough to satisfy a grumpy God for Him not to send us to hell.

The danger of religion is when this entity replaces God, when the rituals and traditions of religion, takes the focus of worship away from God, when its convenience becomes the reason for belonging to one, when it sort of define and create a man's version of God and when it characterizes God and what is God like based on man's own perception, just so he/she can fulfill his/her need for spirituality. Let's take for example, the reason why we go to church. One reason is to fill our need for spirituality, and this comes in various forms, sometimes we go to church because we want to please God or, so that for once a week we can feel good about ourselves, and that we did our God a favor, and hope that, that Sunday feeling or emotion would last through the whole week until next Sunday when we can replenish that spiritual need again. If we're honest enough we'll say yes, that's the reason why I go to church. Is it not right to please God? Is it not right to do something for our spiritual need? There's obviously a God and we obviously need to worship Him, so what's wrong what we're doing? Yes, by going to church we can feel good about ourselves, and we can satisfy our spiritual need, and we can say we have pleased our god(notice the small letters) , but not the real GOD, the only god we have satisfied is the god we have defined in our mind whom we think is pleased by our exercise of religion but the real GOD is not and will never be pleased w/ what we do.

Think about it in this way, everyday we experience hunger, that's our body telling us that the proper nutrients that it requires to function properly needs to be replenished, when we're really- really hungry, any edible food can and will satisfy our hunger, whether it's a bunch of donuts, a plate of noodles, bread, chips, cold pizza, or anything immediately available to eat will satisfy that hunger. True, it will satisfy the hunger, but will it satisfy the true need? My point is if we try to satisfy our hunger for the true God, by religious exercises, it will only satisfy our need for spirituality, but it will never ever satisfy our real need to be righteous in God's sight, the need to have that personal relationship with the real God. Someone might ask, well if the things we do to please God does not please Him what else can we do? It seems so impossible to please God then. As Jesus said “what is impossible to man is possible with God.”
Let's go back to the Holy Week issue, why did Jesus die on the cross? The story tells us that Jesus died to pay for the sins of the world. There are several truths that this point in history tells us, one that, man is sinful, two that, man deserves punishment for his/her sins, three that Jesus came instead to pay for that sin, so as to satisfy the need of mankind to be right in the sight of God, the Bible tells us “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous (Jesus) for the unrighteous (man) to bring us to God “(1Peter 3:18). What does this mean? It means that God did for us what we could not do for ourselves, he sent His son Jesus Christ to bear the punishment for our sins to be the ultimate sacrifice for all the wrong things we've done. Does this mean everybody is saved and forgiven then? The answer to this question is the fourth truth that we must all come to realize in this whole story about Mahal Na Araw , as we all know there were two criminals who were crucified together with Jesus Christ, and as it was told one rejected Jesus Christ and the other acknowledged Him as the King of Jews (the Messiah), not only did the other criminal recognized Jesus' claim as the Messiah, he was also resigned to the reality that he (criminal) was a sinner and deserved the punishment he's getting, and in the midst of recognizing and admitting his own guilt he asked Jesus to remember him when Jesus goes to His Kingdom, and Jesus' response was “today you will be with me in paradise”.

This is the perfect picture of how a person is saved, when we come to the realization of our sinfulness, when we have the humility, a contrite heart and that broken spirit to admit to God our sinfulness and believe and receive Jesus as Savior and Lord. “…A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.” Psalms 51:17

If truth be known, the reason it is hard to accept this truth is because of our fear to give up the control of our lives to God. I am not a preacher, this things I've written is not my opinion, it is the revelation of God through His Word and in the life of Jesus, I will gain nothing for writing this letter, but I am compelled to tell the truth about the gospel because it is the power of God to salvation, and I care so much about all of you my friends. To keep this all to myself is the cruelest thing I could ever do. I remember the night I became a real Christian, I was a Christian by tradition but was an agnostic by heart, until God got hold of me. A friend told me about the gospel at a birthday party one winter night in Minnesota, and I know I've heard it many, many times before, but for some reason that night it all made sense, it came to me like I've never heard it before I didn't even pray what they call the “sinners prayer”, but I remember going home and before I went to sleep, I knew I needed Jesus and his forgiveness, I received Jesus' and told Him to reveal Himself to me, that if this is in fact true, I asked Him to help me with my unbelief, that night I received Him as my Lord, my God my Savior, I wasn't expecting any dramatic changes but the next morning , everything just seems clearer than they used to, I have a clear view of black and white in this gray world, wrong is wrong and right is right. And since then my life and my outlook in life, has never been the same and never been more clearer, and never been more hopeful in the light of the grim reality of what I witness living in the slums of QC and have since been in awe and in-love with the almighty God who gave everything and left nothing to Himself to express His love.

So friend, if you have not made that commitment to Jesus Christ, you are lost, it doesn't matter if you belong or attend any church if you don't have that relationship with Christ Jesus personally, you are still lost. Be sure of your eternal destiny today, don't reject God's gift, the bible says "that If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved."


Happy Easter my friends,

Alex