Pakikiramay

When Christ became man to be one among us, he committed himself totally to a life of pakikiramay with us. He chose to feel and experience the pains and sufferings that are an intrinsic part of being human. All the way to his own death, after being persecuted, mocked, tortured, and crucified by the very people he came to be one with. This is God’s way of loving us – his pakikiramay with us to the very end. And this is what fires us from within to respond in kind. This is the meaning of the Lord’s Passion, as well as our own.

After all, ang makiramay sa kapwa has been an indigenous, Filipino trait, long before an individualistic lifestyle and a self-serving commercialism were inflicted upon us by western culture.

Holy Week, then, is not just a time to piously remember through rituals what the Lord has done for us. Much less is it just a time for a vacation, spending much money in some expensive resort – eating, drinking, and having fun – as some families do. If it were not for the SARS scare, there would even be people going to different places abroad, especially Hongkong, for their so-called Holy Week break. The irony of it all!

Instead, let us choose to quiet down these days and listen to what the Lord may be whispering from within. How can express our pakikiramay with those who are in greater pain and suffering than ourselves? Through our intense and continuing prayers for one, but also through our personall time, talents, and treasures.

Our hearts go all the way to the many victims of the terrorist attacks in Mindanao. I cannot help but single out Filomena Espera Songaling, as reported in several newspapers. In that bombing at the Davao wharf, this forty-year-old mother lost her fourteen-year-old Bonnel, her one and only child, as well as her dear mother, two nieces, and a nephew. Just like that!

They were a poor family, and Bonnel was helping his grandmother sell chicken barbecue by the gate of the wharf when the tragedy struck. He was such a good and loving son, with dreams of becoming an engineer someday to help his family out of poverty. What depth of pain Filomena must be going through right now.

As a personal gesture of pakikiramay with all the victims, President Arroyo canceled the birthday party in her honor, and sent the money instead as part of the one-million-peso reward for the arrest of the terrorist-bombers.

Each one of us, too, is called by Christ to do our own pakikiramay, not only with Filomena, but with so many more fellow-Filipinos who are in pain and deep suffering. What about the many thousands of dislocated refugees in Pikit, Cotobato and other places? They are all jobless and helpless.

Beyond our own shores are the innumerable families suffering in Iraq as a result of that ruthless power – play between Bush and Saddam. Traumatized children,, grieving mothers, and helpless fathers all over the place – all facing an uncertain future. How can some of us be just malling, shopping, having fun in the midst of all this? What is our way of expressing pakikiramay with them?

Yes. Our own Passion Sunday, Holy Week, and beyond can be truly meaningful as followers of Christ if we choose to find ways and means of expressing our pakikiramay with our more unfortunate brothers and sisters in the Lord – particularly those who are going through the darkest moments of their lives right now.

Christ’s way was not just intellectual awareness. Christ’s way was the language of the heart. It takes all the difference.