Internet Makes Possible Virtual Holy Week Rites

source: mb.com.ph

MANILA, Philippines - Practically all Holy Week traditions and practices of Filipino Catholics are now available on the Internet.

Masses, visita iglesia (church visit), pabasa (chanting of the Lord’s passion), Stations of the Cross, and retreat majority of which are available via the www.visitaiglesia.net website of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines In 2010 when the CBCP launched the Visita Iglesia Online for devotees who want to go on a virtual pilgrimage to 14 churches representing the Stations of the Cross.

The Visita Iglesia Online also allows Filipinos abroad can participate in the celebration of Lent. Father Genaro Diwa, commissioner of the Archdiocese of Manila’s Commission on Liturgy, said the new putting the Lenten practices online helps the faithful understand the beauty of the Liturgy and lets them participate in the actual event. But Diwa made it clear that Visita Iglesia Online “is not a substitute to the real participation in the event because online is mediated participation.”

He said that to be physically present in the celebration is one form of sacrifice because of the sincere effort of the person to be there and experience God. “The total gift of self to God in the celebration and worship is not just because God needs it. It’s we who need it also. To be reminded that everything that we do is for the praise of God. It’s the sincerity there that is demanded of us,” said Diwa. He cited as an example the live streaming of masses in churches like the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene (Quiapo Church) via www. quiapochurch.com and the National Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help (Baclaran Church) via www. baclaranovena.org.

“Why do they make available the Mass online? It’s for you to be brought to the Mass so that when you participate in the Mass you have already meditated on the Word of God, have understood what the Gospel and the readings mean so it’s a kind of preparation,” he said.

The online pabasa “is for people who are abroad or who are sick. It’s a service in a way to help them to be in connection with the community or church,” he said. The Church official, however, believes the virtual observance of Holy Week will discourage the faithful from going to church. “The Church is open to new forms but continuing the substance.

Even the celebrations that we do today have evolved already—It’s like a person who grows and experiences so many changes in himself but he is still the same person. There’s the substance that remains. It’s the same with the Church, she is subject to change because of history and culture but she maintains the substance of worship. The form can change but the substance should remain,” said Diwa. Catholics are not the only religious group observing Holy Week.

Rev. Rex Reyes, secretary general of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP), said Protestants have their own way of observing Lent, but they put more emphasis on Easter. “It’s the Easter that they look forward to,” Reyes said in an interview, referring to Protestants. NCCP, Reyes said, will hold its traditional Easter sunrise service
at the Quezon City Circle.

The faithful of Islam and the Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) do not celebrate Holy Week. “We don’t celebrate the Holy Week primarily because our belief is that first Jesus was not crucified. We believe Jesus to be a great prophet and one of the messengers of God to mankind. He is human not divine.

We don’t believe in the crucifixion of Jesus. The Koran, our holy book, tells us that Jesus did not die on the cross but rather was raised up to heaven bodily and physically so being so we don’t celebrate the Holy Week because we are talking here of the death of Jesus,” Prof. Moner Bajunaid, professor of Islamic Studies Commissioner, National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF).

On the other hand, members of the Iglesia celebrate their own version of the Holy Supper, which they refer to as Banal na Hapunan.

During the Banal Na Hapunan, which typically runs from February to April, Iglesia members are required to eat a small piece of bread without yeast. After a prayer, the members sip grape juice.

source: mb.com.ph