By WEENA MEILY

Acts 10:34a, 37-43      

Psalm 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23    

Colossians 3:1-4         

John 20:1-9    

On a sweltering Holy Wednesday morning, under the cruel scorching heat of the sun, this was sacred time indeed to present a creative portrayal of the Passion and Death of Jesus on the streets of Manila.  It was not your traditional Way of the Cross.  It had a disturbing message.   Its feel, unsettling.  Its purpose, to confound the watcher. It was another way of presenting the Filipino people’s suffering. This multi-sectoral gathering represented by laborers, teachers, health workers, the urban poor community leaders and members and other lay church workers have given space for a presentation of a profound “people’s interpretation” of the Gospel’s telling of the Passion and Death of Jesus.  The “Kalbaryo ng Maralita”  (Calvary of the Impoverished and Marginalized) is a new way for deeply reflecting on the Filipino people’s situation.

“Until now, the government’s words that inflation rate in the Philippines has supposedly decreased still ring in our ears…Because the prices of (basic commodities and services) continue to rise… This is an added burden amidst the widespread contractualization in workplaces, low wages and widespread poverty.  Seven out of every ten Filipino workers are just scraping by to survive.  And more than fifty million Filipinos are experiencing hunger…Instead of being a service, basic necessities have become a business. And billionaires’ profits are ballooning while the people are drowning in expenses.”

(Renna Lasmarias, PCPR; translated from the original Tagalog)

The World is suffering. And the ordinary Filipino is no exception to suffering their Kalbaryo. Let’s take a read of what the Ibon Foundation has to say about this:

“Low- paying, and precarious jobs, wages and incomes short of a decent living, no savings and unremitting poverty and hunger – these are the Filipino family’s daily Calvary. On their backs, the people carry the cross of costlier food and profit-driven water, electricity, health and education, as government slaps more consumption taxes on them and billionaires gain enormous wealth, from their toils. It is the Marcos Jr. government’s big-business-biased policies that have driven the majority to enormous sufferings.” (read more, atwww.ibon.org )

To add to this: the victims of extra judicial killings, the disappeared, the arbitrary arrests with fabricated charges, and those victims of red-tagging and harassment. Is there a way out of this abysmal situation? Where is God in our midst? The people ask in confusion and unbelief. Is there an Easter message for this?

Our Easter Sunday Gospel reading is a powerful reminder that faith often begins not with complete understanding, but with encountering the unexpected and allowing the evidence to challenge our pre-conceived notions. The scene is set in darkness, both literally and figuratively.  Mary Magdalene’s heart is heavy with grief and loss. The darkness mirrors the despair and uncertainty that must have gripped the disciples after the crucifixion.  Her sole intention is likely to anoint the body of her beloved teacher, a final act of love and respect. The sight of the open tomb was not a sign of hope but rather a cause for alarm – a potential desecration or theft. Her immediate reaction was to tell the others.  “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb,” reveal her initial assumption – that someone has stolen Jesus’ body. There is no expectation of resurrection in her frantic report. The response of Peter and “the other disciple” (traditionally understood to be John himself) is one of urgent action. They run towards the tomb perhaps driven by their own anxieties. These initial reactions and responses by Mary, Peter, and John, are evidences of the human touch in this transitional event in human history. Belief is not always instantaneous. 

For Peter, the initial sight leads to bewilderment.  For John, it sparks a nascent faith even without fully grasping the meaning of resurrection. This explains the gradual nature of belief.  The Gospel reading underscores the profound mystery of the resurrection.  But can we not see this mystery as we look deeper into its connections to the day-to-day suffering (kalbaryo) of those pushed to the margins of society? The Kalbaryo ng Maralita presented Jesus as “Ang Masa ang Mesias” (The Masses are the Messiah). Isn’t this fitting and rightly so for the Filipino masses’ misery and suffering under the current Marcos Jr. government? As billionaires (including politicians) few wallow in luxury and ridiculous excesses, millions and millions wallow in the mire of impoverishment – lack of food security, safe water supply, healthcare, education and housing.  The masses carry their cross of injustice and oppression.  They carry the burden on their shoulders of the crosses of a hand-to-mouth existence, destitution and privation.

However, the crucifixion of Jesus did not end at the tomb. This impoverishment of the masses should not end there. There is no such thing as “just tiis”(a play of words that means to meekly accept things as they are).  There is only justice.  The mystery of the resurrection may not be a mystery after all, if we but see with “new eyes and a new heart”.  This miserable condition does not mean we can no longer do anything. If we stand together with those pushed to the margins, there are concrete steps that can be pushed and fought for: Go after cartels that manipulate prices; Support fully the farmers and fisherfolk; Stop privatization and deregulation; Stop rampant importation; Strengthen local production; Remove VAT and excise tax on oil, water, electricity and other basic necessities. If the welfare of the billionaire oligarchs who control our economy and politics is prioritized, there will always be a reason for us not to progress. Midterm elections are imminent. We are enjoined to vote for those who will stand and push for the concrete steps we have mentioned above.  We are encouraged to choose leaders who honestly and truthfully care for the masses’ welfare.     

Drawing inspiration and a sense of purpose from the wisdom of Fr. Joe Dizon, we embark on our synodal pilgrimage of hope, “The Church will never go astray as long as it continues to be with the poor in their work and struggle for resurrection from the many ‘deaths’ imposed upon them by the evils of injustice.”   It may not be a resurrection of the physical. Nor may it be a resuscitation of the human body. Rather, the resurrection is the rising up of the Body of Christ, a continuing experience of people RISING UP in resistance to the evil pervading among the lives of our marginalized communities.  Belief is not only a declaration of faith.  It is a movement.   If you believe, you will act on it. And the Christ of the Resurrection calls us to act on our faith.  So that it becomes a faith that is fullness of life.  So that the empty tomb, witnessed in the dim light of dawn, becomes the first radiant sign of hope together as a pilgrim Easter people.

Balik-Tanaw is a group blog of Promotion of Church People’s Response. The Lectionary Gospel reflection is an invitation for meditation, contemplation, and action. As we nurture our faith by committing ourselves to journey with the people, we also wish to nourish the perspective coming from the point of view of hope and struggle of the people. It is our constant longing that even as crisis intensifies, the faithful will continue to strengthen their commitment to love God and our neighbor by being one with the people in their dreams and aspirations. The Title of the Lectionary Reflection would be Balik –Tanaw , isang PAGNINILAY . It is about looking back (balik) or revisiting the narratives and stories from the Biblical text and seeing, reading, and reflecting on these with the current context (tanaw).