Holy Week notes

The Holy Week is a very busy week for priests. The last one we had was no exception.

For one, we priests have to contend with kilometric lines of penitents who decide to come to confession during this week. All of a sudden, everyone feels the urge to ask forgiveness for their sins during that week.

Grappling with the number is the least of the problems. More trying and burdensome is the effort to properly deal with each penitent, since confession is not simply about forgiving sins, but also about giving appropriate pieces of advice.

You see, priests have to sort out all kinds of things to help people know and appreciate the true nature, meaning and purpose of the sacrament. He has to try to know and understand each penitent in the way he is and with the kind of conscience that he has—delicate, scrupulous, lax, or perplexed, etc.

The ultimate goal is to bring people to be truly sorry for their sins and to live authentic Christian life. Confessors have to be knowledgeable about these things.

Many penitents come with improper dispositions and inadequate preparation. Often, the sense of sin is not the right one, being more emotional or social than theological. It’s not God who is made the main reference point, but rather their own selves, their own feelings, and the opinions of others.

Thus, it’s clear that a continuing catechesis on the sacrament of penance is a must. I sometimes get the sensation that we are lagging behind in this area of responsibility.

On the part of the confessors, we are presumed to have great expertise, patience and charity to do our ministry well. That’s why we are given the faculty before we hear confessions, renewing it every so often, because we have to be continuously trained and screened for this purpose.

In confession, we priests act as judge, physician, father and pastor. We have to be both competent about what sin is and what Christian life is all about, and charitable to reconcile the penitent with God.

This is not easy. It demands nothing less than integral doctrinal grounding and a living sanctity to effectively carry out these aspects of a confessor. Blending God’s mercy with the requirements of justice demands nothing less.

Aside from hearing confessions, priests also have to review and prepare for the special liturgy celebrated during the Holy Week, especially during the Easter Triduum. Pious people can be fastidious.

Then there’s the need to meet the increasing demand for retreats, recollections, religious seminars. Homilies, meditations and talks have to be prepared well, otherwise…

I gave and heard some of them during the last Holy Week. In general, they were ok. Still areas for improvement could be noted. We priests can tend to act more like performers than preachers.

There were sound bites instead of substance, verbosity and cheap gimmicks instead of ideas that were well thought out, organized and clearly infused with living faith. We should do something about these.

In places where some extra-liturgical practices are done, like processions and the dramatization of the crucifixion and the encounter of Mary with the Risen Christ, priests still have to do more things. Aside from spiritual energy, substantial physical stamina is required.

But all in all, everything went well and was even gratifying. During the “Visita Iglesia”, I was happy to note that everyone seemed to go to church. I saw the mayor’s Volvo and a beggar’s “cariton” (cart) heading toward a church.

There were also families, complete with elderly grandparents and little kids, doing the Via Crucis. Processions from different barangays converted the streets into rivers of popular piety.

I even noticed what I thought were shady characters inside the church, on their knees. Who am I to judge them? Only God can do that. I prayed for everyone. This is our living Church, at once holy because of its founder and in need of purification because of us.

In fact, in my heart that was bursting with joy, I prayed: “Lord, look not on our sins, but on our faith. It’s clear that however we may be, we truly believe in you and love you. Help us, guide us and protect us. Amen.”

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