HOLY WEEK in JAPAN

My first blog!
And it's 12:31 am!
I just cannot resist producing this blog.
I find it one of the things that I am called for... to spread to any part of this world what it feels like being a Filipino Catholic priest in Japan. I think this is one big step to answering the usual questions given to me when I meet friends and relatives back in the Philippines.

It's HOLY TUESDAY. Oh yes, it's the Holy Week.
I miss those days when I was in the Philippines. Holy Week meant the hot sumer heat. Holy Week meant days of singing classes and practices in church as a young seminarian. Holy Week meant cleaning, cleaning and cleaning! And as a deacon and young priest, Holy Week meant practicing chants and readings, movements in the church and all the liturgical "cramming".

I miss those days.

Here in Japan, there is a Holy Week... well, at least in the Catholic calendars.
But for the rest of the Japanese society, it's the usual work week! Honestly, you will never even feel that sense of "drama" that the Philippine Holy Week would have. Everybody has work the whole week. That's the reason why we have to make our solemn liturgical celebrations in the evening... preferably after 7 pm. That would give our working Catholics some time for them to travel from their workplaces to their churches. You'd see a lot of the male Catholics still in their suits or workclothes heading straight to church. You'd see a lot of the mothers coming to church hastily dressed after washing the dishes. You'd see high school students coming to church in their uniforms! It's the usual thing here in Japan. A Holy Week celebration... all done in the evening! Yet, the churches are modestly full, and the liturgy, simple but solemn.

This is my 8th year in Japan. I still do not find any impact in the liturgical celebrations of Holy Week here in Japan. Yet, I find so much mystery in the impact of devotion. Yes, the devotion these people have to forego sometime of needed rest after a tiring day and spend some hours in church during the evening. That is mystery enough... and it calls me to prayer.