paschal triduum 2013

Holy Thursday

With this mass we end the season of Lent and start the very purpose of Lent.  This feast is called the Paschal Triduum.  The Paschal Triduum is the feast of all feasts.  It is the solemnity of all solemnities.  In fact it is so great a feast that it took us 40 days to prepare for it in Lent, and now it will take us 3 days to commemorate, and it will take us another 50 days to celebrate it in Easter.  That is how big the paschal triduum is - imagine a feast that will take us three days to finish from Holy Thursday and Good Friday, from Good Friday to Black Saturday and from the vigil of Black Saturday flowing unto  Easter Sunday.  Thus, it is called the Triduum.

It is also called paschal.  Paschal comes from the Greek word pesach or pascha in Latin ukon sa binisaya, paskwa.  Ugaling ang bisaya daw nag-lain ang kahulugan.  Kon si maninoy wala nagapamaskwa sia bagit.  Kon fiesta nila mamaskwa kita.  However, originally, Paschal means the passing through, the passing over – ang pagtabok.  This was first used by the Israelites when they passed over from Egypt to the promised land, when they crossed over from the land of slavery to freedom.

In our gospel today Jesus said that “his hour has come to pass from this world to the Father.”  Again this is his pascha.  Jesus is passing over.  His passion, death and resurrection is a passing through that will bring him back to the Father.  But in this passing over he will bring us with him.  Gani importante nga updan naton sia sa sining tatlo ka adlaw.  Updan naton sia sa iya Passover meal sa last supper nga sa aton amo ang Eucharist.  Dayon buwas updan naton sia sa iya kamatayon krus, ang paghalad sang kordero sang Dios, kag ikatlo updan naton sia halin sa kamatayon pakadto sa pagkabanhaw nga ginasimbolo sang aton pagtabok sa tubig.  Ang tatlo ka elemento sang aton pagtabok upod kay Kristo – ang tinapay, ang krus, kag ang tubig – the three elements of our passing over with Jesus.

Subong nga hapon ginsugdan naton ang aton pagtabok upod kay Kristo and we focus our attention on the first element in our crossing over, the bread, the bread that is broken.

“At the time he was betrayed he took bread … and giving thanks broke it and gave it to his disciple saying take this all of you and eat of it, for this is my body which will be given up for you.”  He broke it.  Jesus is giving us his broken body – not a body with well toned muscles, not a body with a six pack abs but a broken body.  A body beaten blue by the whip and the slaps and the thorns, a body broken down by the weight of the cross, a body made unrecognizable because of the blood that was poured out as it hang on the cross.  It was a broken body that he gave.  How can we miss that?  Every time we gather for the Eucharist we are told that he took bread and he broke it, this is my body.  It is a broken body that he gives.  And it is a broken body that he seeks from us.  “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”  The cross is not nice.  And to be broken is not going to be popular.  In fact Paul said, “we preach Christ crucified:  a stumbling block to the Jews and a foolishness to Gentiles.”

After 2 years in a parish and after applying twice already to be assigned as parish priest, the bishop came to me one day while I was doing my rounds in the cathedral.  And he said to me, uy ang ganda na nang cathedral a no?  Where did you buy those big flower pots?  What are you going to plant there?  Ang ganda a no, Sya nga pala, I am assigning you to become rector of St. Vincent. I almost had a heart attack.  When I assumed the office I immediately lost weight, and I was in a state of panic Sr. Inday had to send me Ensure, I was so stressed.  Then after a year they gave me consuelo de bobo – they made me a monsignor and I have to buy myself a dress and a red sash worth ten thousand pesos and I wore it only once because until now I just feel too embarrassed to wear it.  

Believing then that God was calling me I accepted this duty.  Many times I do not know where this will lead me.  Many times I still feel the urge of going back to the scene when I could have insisted on the bishop on what I wanted to do with my life, with what I liked doing, and with what was convenient for me.  But many times we just have to offer ourselves each day to be broken.  To be broken. 

When the priests says daily on our altars “then he took bread and broke it” the liturgy is reminding us of our roots – our root is the cross, we were born from  the side of Christ pierced so violently with a lance blood and water came out of it; we grew out of the blood shed by so many martyrs.  Our belief, our way of life, our worldview is a scandal to the Jews and a stumbling block for the Gentiles.  They could not understand, the world could not understand why we have to sacrifice for others, why we have to swallow our pride each time we forgive, why we have to bend low and humiliate ourselves, why we have to accept defeat, why we have to die that others may live, why these Carmelite nuns have to here, why I prefer to be a priest, why some of you can embrace a mongoloid child, why some of you would sacrifice ambition and a possible career because of a sick mother or a disabled brother.  The world cannot understand that - why we have to be broken and remain broken.  Because Jesus gave us his broken body.

We can never cross to freedom, we will always be slaves if we insists on being whole, if we always want to be whole, if we are afraid to be broken . . . if we are afraid to be broken like Jesus.

I end here tonight.  The liturgy specifically states that I should only give a short homily because what comes after, the washing of the feet is still part of the homily.  To wash the feet of another in humble service is a symbol both in the action of bowing and kneeling and inner feelings and emotions while you are washing of what it is to be broken for others.
Tomorrow we will continue our crossing over this time by looking at the cross, by focusing our eyes on the cross of Jesus.

Good Friday

Yesterday, the first day of the triduum, and the day we set aside to commemorate the last supper and the institution of the Eucharist we reflected on bread, specifically we set our eyes on the bread broken and given to us as the body of Christ.  Yesterday the invitation was to be broken as our way of passing through and crossing over with Jesus.

On this second day of our triduum, we continue our passing through and our crossing over, with Jesus on the lead, and we are asked to focus our sight on the blood, the blood of the lamb that was poured out on the cross.  The power of blood is such that the blood of a lamb was in the time of Moses splattered on the posts and lintel of every door of every Israelite so that the angel of death would pass over the house and spare its occupants.  That is another meaning of Passover.  They were spared by the angel of death because they were marked with the blood of the lamb. 

In later times blood would be diluted with water and sprinkled on every man, woman and child of Israel to cleanse them from their sins, and to purify the altar of the temple and the utensils used for the temple sacrifice that these may be purified and made fit in their service to God.  Ever since the time of Abraham when he was called to trust God who simply told him to pack up his things and go without giving him any specific address; ever since the time of Moses when certain rituals where prescribed to call upon God to act and save his people; it was already made clear to us that there are limits to what we can do for ourselves and for others.   Ginapadumdom kita nga kon kita lang indi kita makasarang, ginapadumdum kita nga may mga butang sa aton kabuhi nga indi naton mahimo ukon mahuman.  There are many things in our lives that only God can accomplish for us – not by our human endeavour, not by our human intelligence and power, but by God.  And this is my point when I invited you to focus your eyes on the blood of the Lamb.

Many a holy week, we, and in particular, I, have been so concerned about what I can do for God, what I  can offer him - my fasting and abstinence, my via crucis, my visita iglesya, even my many penances and sacrifices.  Many of us are amazed by what people can do in their love for the Lord some even going to the point of having themselves nailed like him on the cross, or flagellate themselves until they are all bloodied up.  But at this point, at the height of holy week, I would rather invite you to direct your thought instead to what God is doing for you and in you.  In the highest of all weeks, in the feast of all feasts the concern should not be on what we can do for God.  The concern should rather be on what God has done and is doing for us and in us.  It is not what we do for God.  It is what God did and what God continues to do in our lives.  This is what we are reminded of on the cross.  It is not what you and I have accomplished.  Rather it is what God has accomplished for me and in my behalf, for you and in your behalf.  Jesus died on the cross because we can never be good enough on our own.  Jesus had to suffer and die, he has to ransom us with his blood, he has to win us by his death, because we can never be good enough on our own.  This is what Jesus is doing in us and for us.

When Peter asked “master where are you going, why can I not follow you now?” It is because where Jesus is going is something only Jesus can do and only Jesus can accomplish.  Not even Peter can do it. 

Only Jesus can say, “it is finished,” only Jesus can say “I have finished what I have set out to do.”  We cannot rely solely on our own power because as St. Paul insists in his letters we can never be good enough on our own.  And many of us go through life leaving behind a trail of unfinished projects, unfulfilled dreams, unresolved conflicts and incomplete undertakings.  We do have regrets, and how we wish we could go back and set them aright.  But only Jesus can do this for us, only Jesus can complete, only Jesus can perfect us.
Today we set our eyes on the power of the blood of the lamb – on what he has done for us, on what he is still accomplishing in us. 

Easter Vigil

Before we speak of Easter let us first take a look, a peek at least, on Holy Saturday.  In the paschal triduum it’s always the Holy Saturday that is left behind.  We celebrate Holy Thursday with the last supper, then we celebrate his passion and death on Good Friday complete with a siete palabras to recall his last words, and then all of a sudden after the poignant Santo Intierro or holy burial we jump into the Vigil of Easter.  There seems to be a gap somewhere.  What about the closing of the tomb?  What about the going home after the burial?  What about the coming to terms with the shock? 

But for me Holy Saturday is not to be missed for it offers a unique human experience.  After the shock of death or after words that bring news of despair (words like you have cancer, you are fired, it’s not benign, its terminal) we go to that stage where we ponder on our next move – “now what” or “what next” as we enter a kind of a void, an empty space of insecurity. 

I remember when my father died.  We buried him December 30.  On the 31^st I just felt so empty, so exhausted, so unsure about anything and so I went to SM and I bought a big Christmas tree and all the Christmas decors I liked and since it was past Christmas I got 20 percent discount.  Then I went to Atrium and since one of the personnel knew me he had the bodega opened so that I can choose the right Christmas lights which they have already taken out from the store.  Then I set it up at home for myself and for my mother.  Probably I was trying to fill the emptiness then, I was trying to think of my next move, trying to make myself happy by pretending I have not missed Christmas.  That was MY Holy Saturday in December, a day before New Year, the day when I have to confront the reality that my father is gone –what next, what now?

Holy Saturday is the in between – it is between death and resurrection, sa tunga-tunga sia sang kahadlok kag kalipay, sa tunga-tunga sia sang kasakit kag sang kasulhay.  It is the time of uncertainties, like the feelings of the disciples of Jesus after Good Friday as they locked themselves in a room; like the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, going home defeated wondering how they would explain to their loved ones this failed adventure.  Everything has become uncertain – what now, what next?

This is an important experience before we move to Easter, before we cross over by passing through the water.  We need to take stock of our uncertainties and our doubts, our struggle to come up with concrete resolutions; to confront and answer the questions in our hearts what now, what next?

Only then can we come to the Vigil of Easter, the crossing of the water.  The Easter Vigil is filled with contrasting symbols:  death and life; darkness and light; water and fire; the font which holds the water and the candle which keeps the fire.  Water is death and darkness, the font is the tomb; but when light conquers it and fire transforms it, water becomes life and the font, no longer a tomb, becomes a womb.  This is one of the most beautiful liturgies we have. 

Egeria, a woman who made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land 1,600 years ago wrote about her experiences during holy week there in Jerusalem.  She wrote about how the people there celebrated Palm Sunday, what they went through on Holy Wednesday, what they did during Holy Thursday and Good Friday and Holy Saturday and the high drama that these rituals involved since they were celebrated in the very same place where this things took place.  But when she reached the Easter Vigil she simply noted in her diary “they did what we also do”.  There was no difference.  It was exactly the same.

Beginning Palm Sunday and throughout the Holy Week there was drama, almost a step by step re-enactment of what happened 2,000 year ago.  Kag makita mo nga ang mga pari ka creative gid sa sini nga panahon.  Nadumduman ko anay ang akon parish priest sang didto ako naasign sa Pototan sa Palm Sunday, ramos.  Tungod kay si Jesus nagsakay sa asno, si Msgr. Esmalla nagsakay sa carabao.  Ang nami pa kay samtang nagasakay na sia sa carabao kag nagakanta kami hosanna sa Anak ni David, mabatian ang iya tingog nga nagasiling – kodaki ako, kodaki ako, kag sa ano man nga dimalas nahulog ang isa niya ka sapatos, kag tungod kay kadamo sang tawo wala dayon nakita.  So sa misa naghulat pa kami asta nga nakita ang sapatos.  Drama. 

Ang Holy Thursday may drama man nga iya – may hugas tiil, may iban nga nagahalok sa tiil, may iban man nga antes maghalok butangan niya anay sang perfume - ma arte.  Tapos ang Biernes Santo may iya man nga drama – amat-amat nga gina-ubahan ang krus, tapos nagahalok sa krus, ang pari mauba sang iya manami nga kasulya, kag ma-uba sang iya sapatos kay ang iya halukan wala bayu kag wala bisan tsinelas.  Kon obispo ka, ubahon mo pa gid ang imo singsing kay man ginkuha si Kristo sa imo – wala na ang imo esposo, so wala ka wedding ring, divorce.  Drama.  Pero pag-abot sang Easter vigil, wala na.   

Although it is still rich in symbolism, there is no drama here, no hint of re-enacting what happened.  Mayo lang kay wala re-enactment kay basi matulod ako sa daku-daku nga bato sa lulubngan ni Jesus nga ginhawa ko na lang duko sa paghugas sang tiil sang Huwebes.  But the vigil is about fire and candles and water.  Why?  because now we are celebrating a sacrament, it is about the mysterious ways of God acting in us, changing us, leading us from death to life, transforming us from old self to new self, leading us from our old ways to new ways. 

Water in the bible is the symbol of evil and death, it is a tomb.  When the world was not yet created the world was water – you heard it in the first reading.  But then the Spirit of God hovered over the waters and then light was created.  And when light was created water was transformed to something life giving, thus, transforming the tomb into the womb of birth and rebirth.  In baptism we die in the water and then when we rise from the water we are transformed.

Conclusion:  Holy Thursday we were invited to be like Jesus to be broken, to permit ourselves to be broken, to allow ourselves to be broken for others.  Good Friday the invitation was to open ourselves to the power of grace at work in us. We can never be good enough on our own – God has to act, God has to transform. 

 Holy Saturday we are asked what now, what then?  Settle your uncertainties, resolve your doubts and come up with concrete resolutions.   Then in this vigil everything falls into place – my strong resolve to become new, to become better and God’s abiding and unfailing grace at work in me – and the assurance that in the resurrection of Jesus everything will have a victorious ending. 


Sunday, Easter Morning

I am a liturgist and I am the only priest the bishop obeys – do you know that?  When I tell him to sit he sits, when I tell him to go, he goes.  That is why the bishops follow an age old advice when they deal with us liturgists.  It says, you can negotiate with terrorists but never with liturgists - maayo lang gani ako kay ginapasampukan ko lang sila sang kilay, may isa anay ka liturgist nga may dala sia nga lipak daw ruler ka laba, tapos ginsingganan niya ang obispo “sit down” dala tuslok sang iya tiyan.  That is also partly the reason why even priests don’t dare show their mettle on us, because it falls in our department to dress them up when they die.  Among ourselves ginatawag ako kon kaisa nga AE, meaning the Archdiocesan Embalmer – waay man gid nga ako ang nagapangbalsamar pero ako lang ang nagasigurado nga kon may mapatay nga pari sakto nga ginapasuksuk sa ila sa ila lungon.  Ti testingan lang nila labutao kag kutao-kutao sa akon kay kon mapatay sila, butangan ko gid aritos ila dulunggan kag sa idalom sang ila sutana pasuksukan ko gid sila sang shorts nga pink!  Amo na nga wala gid sila nagalangolango sa akon.

Sang didto ako naassign sa Cathedral sa Candle Light, may mga bes nga kon may mga dumalagko nga tawo nga mabisita sa cathedral ginaagda ko na sila sa isa ka interview nga i-publish ko sa candlelight.  One time, dugay na gid ini natabo, ang mayor sang Iloilo naghapit kag gin-interview ko sia sa ibabaw sang konbento.  Sa ibabaw sang konbento didto man ang kiao ni Msgr. Gamboa.  Ano pa sang gina-interview ko ang mayor hagi man ang kiao sabat sang usual nga expression ni Msgr. Gamboa – mango, mango mango.  Mayor puede mo bala kami masugiran sang imo plano para sa ciudad . . .  ang kag kiao sa likod nagasabat man:  mango, mango, mango.  Mayor ano ang masiling mo  sa … mango, mango, mango.  Grabe and pamalhas ko sa amo to nga interview.

In the tradition of the church during Easter especially in Germany there is such a thing which they call risus paschalis which means the laughter of Easter.  It was customary for the parish priest to tell jokes during Easter.  The idea behind this risus paschalis was laughing at Satan who was humiliated and silenced by the Resurrection of Christ.  The resurrection of Jesus has embarrassed the devil, the resurrection of Jesus has disgraced Satan and today we laugh at Satan.

One of the enemies of pride is to learn to make fun of yourself.  It is one way of deflating the ego – do you know that?.  And the best example of a person who makes fun of himself is Pope John XXIII.  Pope John is you have seen him in pictures is very fat.  While passing through a crowd he overheard a woman exclaim, “He’s so fat!” The pope stopped and said, “Madame, the conclave is not a beauty contest.”

One time he was brought to the Holy Spirit Hospital.  The superior who was a nun came up to him and told him, Holy Father I am the Superior of the Holy Spirit.  And the Pope replied, Well sister, mas taas ang posisyon mo sang sa akon, I am just the Vicar of Christ.

Joy, humor and laughter show the depth of our faith in God, most especially our faith in the resurrection.  Our outlook in life will show if we are true believers of the resurrection, it will show if indeed we have faith in the power of life over death; it will show whether we have faith in the power of love over hatred; it will show whether we have faith in the power of good over evil; it will show whether we have faith in the power of kindness and compassion over violence and anger; it will show whether we have faith in the power of hope over despair.  Our joy and our sense of humor reveal our trust in God, our trust in a God who will ultimately make things well for all of us. 

Six years ago I was almost apprehended for jay walking.  I told the policeman that RA 1656 on the privileges of a disabled person which entitles me not to use the overpass.  He made me pass, and even apologized.  Sa tuod-tuod lang wala ako kahibalo kon may amo gid man sina nga layi. 

And one time while I was responding to a sick call in the hospital, when I alighted from the taxi, I saw the security guard of the hospital running with a wheelchair for me, and I thought all the while that arthritis is that bad. So when was the last time you made a good laugh at yourself and at your predicament?

And so we pray:  Lord, let me have too deep a sense of humor ever to be proud.  Let me know my absurdity before I act absurdly.  Let me realize that when I am humble I am most human and most worthy of your serious consideration.  Let me laugh at my pride, let me laugh at my mistakes, let me laugh my ego, let me laugh at the devil, because from now on, with you Lord, all will be well. The Lord is risen! Let us be glad and rejoice.