Yearly during Holy Week in the Philippines, thousands participate in gory flagellation varying in different styles and degree of pain, flocking the streets barefooted culminating to an actual crucifixion using nails soaked in alcohol to avoid infection. Some would say it is done to atone for one's sin; others would deliver a heart-wrenching story of how they were miraculously saved from an accident or a terrible illness. And so the bargaining begins. For these penitents, God is a god of punishment that must be pleased and in return for favors and forgiveness, self-inflicted pain must be endured.
Many factors can be blamed for this type of culture. One is poverty and ignorance of the Christian teachings. Most, if not the entire flock, due to lack of resources resort to God's grace for health, food and safety. Which is good and acceptable. But the idea that God can be bought through bargaining, that God acts in exchange of favors is just wrong.
Doing things for the so-called glory of God theologically does not make Him holier or greater neither that the absence of such diminishes Him. We are called to do things for the glory of God to bear witness and be examples of how God's power and mercy work. It is not so that others will be amazed, but so that others may believe and take part on God's salvation.
Public crucifixions and other forms of public penitence are in contrast to this. I do not wish to insult their intention, but in my observance it is becoming more of a show, a display of machismo to attract wonder and pride.
In the old times, flagellation was done in quiet and in great secrecy. It is hard to take track of this. For example, the Opus Dei has been repeatedly accused of practicing the wearing of cilice belts to suppress one's sexual urge as well as self-flagellation. Granted that these are true, they must've been done in private and not by parading on streets because the ultimate goal is to purify one's self, suppressing sinful thoughts and acts to understand God's intention.
However, still, it must be noted that the Church argues against such forms of penitence. The Blessed Pope John Paul II repeatedly taught us of the sanctity of the body as temple of Christ. It is by prayer that we can be purified to merit God's kingdom and love above all. Our bodies are not really ours to defile. This body is given to us to reach out and protect one another and not to hurt ourselves even more our neighbors.
The annual crucifixions at barangay San Pedro Cutud in San Fernando, Pampanga became a tourist attraction. But while many are in awe of how flagellants and participants of crucifixions endure physical pain, many are also distracted, disgusted of such practices.
As a devout Catholic, I frown upon these practices because I see it as a distortion and an insult to Jesus' passion and death. Jesus did not let Himself be crucified only to say after "do this in memory of me" so that you may be forgiven and earn the favor of the Father. Instead, He washes his apostles' feet, eat and drink and pray with them. And that's where He said "do this in memory of Me." He sacrificed Himself that we may be saved from the eternal torture of Hell. So why are these people so insistent in imitating what He did?
We are people of Easter, not people of Good Friday. We are taught to see Christ's cross not as a sign of death and suffering but a symbol of love and mercy. And so as Christians, this is how we are called: to propagate God's love and mercy and to love one another they way He loves us.
I have to ask: who are you serving by torturing yourself? Jesus Himself in the Bible explicitly said, God is a God of mercy and love. I am no priest or an expert in theology but what I learned in my 25 years of being a practicing Catholic is that no God would want His children harmed - a sign of a good shepherd.
The problem is that there is no absence of Catholic teachings addressing this. The problem comes with having it relayed to people. This is probably why Pope Francis in his homily at his first Chrism Mass as the Supreme Pontiff pleads to his priests to go out "to the outskirts where there is suffering, bloodshed, blindness that longs for sight, and prisoners in thrall to many evil masters." If only we as Christians would realize the amount of love and grace God wants us to have, we will not resort to inflicting pain on ourselves thinking we are bettering our chances of receiving grace and forgiveness.
It is hard to break tradition with roots spanning centuries of age. But I just want to share what I know and what I wish our pastors would address in solid grounds. I know that God is not a God of reward and punishment. If this is the depth of sincerity we have in connecting with God, then I fear what other religions are accusing us might actually be true. There are good and bad traditions. It's just that, for me, it's time we draw boundaries between them.
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