Sikat

It's not everyday that I get featured at one of the country's top blogs, so I guess I have bragging rights for appearing in OAP :)


My entry didn't make it to top 3, so I didn't win a moleskin. I'll just have to try again next time. And do a mega-pose at Mt. Pulag.

For Catholics.

His name has become a household name. A curse word. An expression you say when you get surprised, or when you get mad.

The week to celebrate His Passion has become just a "long weekend" for us. To celebrate his death anniversary, we go to the beach and frolic in the sun.

Becoming a proper Catholic means giving up something we enjoy for 40 days... "something" being Coke, coffee, chocolates, criticizing other people's clothes and makeup, and then resume the habit after Easter. A proper Catholic means attending all the Holy week activities, going to Easter vigils, and then fall asleep during the homily.

Have you ever experienced hitting your elbow on the edge of a chair and you feel that sharp pain shoot across your forearms? Magnify that pain a million times. That's how it feels to have your wrist nailed to a cross. Imagine that searing pain on all your limbs. Not to mention the fact that you're extremely dehydrated, weak from all the blood loss, and whatever movement you make sends all kinds of pain throughout your body that you don't know anymore which is the most painful.

Now, here's the thing. Jesus knew He was going to die. He knew He will be crucified -- the death penalty reserved for the lowest of the low that the Romans even spared their own citizens from enduring such a mortifying death. Jesus was agonizing in the garden, sweating blood, because He knew what was going to happen. The word "agony" was even invented just to attempt to describe what Jesus went through. I don't know about you but I don't think I'm willing to suffer death by crucifixion just so a stranger can be saved from eternal damnation.

Thank God I'm not God. And thank God that He knows me, and He loves me, and He went through all the unimaginable shame and pain to pay a debt I can't pay by myself no matter how long I worked or how hard I tried.

He paid for you, too. He knows you, He loves you, and He went through unimaginable shame and pain, for you, too.

It's never too late to come back. It's never too late to believe. Every week can be Holy Week, every Friday can be Good Friday, and everyday can be Resurrection Day. It's never too late to celebrate the real meaning, the essence, of the Passion of Christ.

Let's all live a life that's worthy of the sacrifice He made. Happy Easter! :)