Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma is asking Catholic faithful to reflect and attend religious activities during the Holy Week instead of going to the beach for a vacation.
He said the Holy Week, which starts with Palm Sunday, is the best time to renew one’s relationship with God and reflect on the sacrifice and love of the Lord.
“There are 52 weeks in a year, and only one week when we are called to commemorate the passion, death and resurrection of the Lord,” said Palma in a press conference yesterday at his residence.
The Holy Week is supposed to be the most somber period of the liturgical calendar leading up to the joy of Easter Sunday.
“If you intend to go on vacation, please do it after the Holy Week. I invite you to instead take part in various Church activities to further appreciate God’s love,” Palma said.
But he discouraged extreme penitential practices like an actual crucifixion with nails or flagellation.
In lieu of nails, he said, people should undergo spiritual renewal by going to confession and praying.
Palma will preside over the 8 a.m. Palm Sunday mass at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral.
From Maundy Thursday to Black Saturday, Palma will lead the “tinieblas” or morning prayers and liturgical hymns at the cathedral, the seat of the Archdiocese of Cebu.
On Thursday night, he will lead a Visita Iglesia, a traditional visit to at least seven churches to pay homage to the Blessed Sacrament kept in a designated Altar of Repose.
He will visit the Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Parish, Asilo de la Milagrosa, Redemptorist Church, Archdiocesan Shrine of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Sto. Rosario Parish, the Basilica del Sto. Niño and the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral.
This year’s Visita Iglesia will serve as a “dry run” of the church visits that will be undertaken when Cebu City hosts the 51st International Eucharistic Congress in January 2016. The Congress is expected to draw 15,000 delegates from all over the world, said Margie Matheu, executive secretary of the Archdiocese of Cebu’s Pastoral Section.