PASCHAL TRIDUUM (HOLY THURSDAY TO EASTER SUNDAY)

IN THIS COVID-19 CRISIS

By: Sem. Mark Theo P. Binghay

Holy Week this year comes at a unique time. The novel coronavirus outbreak rages on, affecting
millions of lives around the world. It’s precisely this fragile, vulnerable moment in history that calls for
serious reflection, finding peace during all the struggle. If you have the privilege of taking a break,
visiting churches online, and contemplating. Today, even if there’s a break in school, work, etc. people
find it difficult to reflect because you always want to be on your phone or television for Covid-19
updates. For me, I experienced sometimes tempted by mobile games or watching movies rather to reflect
but I try my best to more reflect to myself especially during this crisis. This is why it’s especially
important to dedicate a time for reflection.
Moreover as much as time is important, the place should equally be a priority when reflecting.
It’s hard to connect with your inner self when your mind is distracted. Sometimes I get distracted to watch
movies or to play mobile games. Ideally, you want to go to a place where you can be alone, for me I go to
the church because I feel free from my feelings, emotions and giving myself to talk to God, where you
can set aside chatter about Covid-19. Holy week is always a good time for spiritual reflection. There’s
one thing good about the coronavirus disease pandemic and the ongoing enhanced community quarantine,
is that it has forced me to redirect my attention to things that matter most, like my relationship with God,
family, and the people around me.
However, I come to reflect on this bible verse that “many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it
is the lord’s purpose that prevails.”(Proverbs 19:21) Have faith in God. For me this is a good opportunity
to have a good time for our family and spend more time with God. For me this is my first time to
experience this holy week this year with no people during the mass doing live streaming. I come to reflect
to myself it is important to have a good time with God we don’t know what will happen to us. It is better
to have a good time with God rather than doing other things. As I observed some of my siblings and my
cousins are during their quarantine they watch Korean dram and playing mobile games. It reminds me
that I should put unto my mind I should do time management. For now I should more reflecting to myself
especially to my vocation to the priesthood.
In conclusion our homes are the little churches of Jesus. Therefore we should build our
relationship with our family, by doing BEC, Rosary, and watching live stream mass. This idea of home
churches is not new in the Church. St. John Paul II taught this in his Apostolic Exhortation on the
Families, “The Christian family constitutes a specific revelation and realization of ecclesial communion,
and for this reason too it can and should be called “the domestic Church.” We should follow to the
government and let us continue to pray to the whole world that this virus will be gone. For me God will
not let this happen it is a man-made, God is love, he loves us we don’t know that when it ends this virus,
for us now let us continue to Praying rosary, divine chaplet and have a time to our family. After this
Covid-19 pandemic hopefully we changed ourselves to have time to our family and our heavenly Father.