The heat is officially on as we enter this year’s Holy Week. For most Filipinos, that means preparing our bodies, homes, and cars for the extreme temperatures of summer while for practicing Catholics it also involves doing some soul searching or participating in the many rituals and traditions that make this time of year unique.
For others, the upcoming long weekend can mean some respite from the heat and traditions as they take advantage of the time off work to jet off to cooler climates. This is helped by the revised school schedule which means summer breaks have already begun for most kids, allowing families to make Holy Week travel plans once more.
Now that the summer and the vacation are together again, which is one of the few positive side effects of the flip flops of the Department of Education, Filipinos can return to the regular programming for the season, when we take advantage of the summer weather and the kids’ vacation to spend time together in beach or mountain resorts, or to travel to different places.
The scheduling is a good thing because a school break during the rainy season, when there are no long weekends to take advantage of, was a pretty sad one to get used to for Filipinos. Employees had to use up more vacation days just to go on family trips and even weekend getaways weren’t as exciting if there was always the prospect of rain to dampen plans. We may have aligned our academic year with the international schedule, but there was a reason why we originally timed our school breaks with the hot summer months.
This month alone, Filipinos are already enjoying an extra helping of holidays. I’m pretty sure a lot have already taken advantage of the April 9 Araw ng Kagitingan plus the succeeding Holy Week to make plans to go somewhere, especially employees who can be away for 2 weekends without taking too many vacation leaves. Extreme vacationers could’ve taken maximum advantage of holiday economics by including last week’s Eid Al Fitr holiday and be practically away the entire month.
In my family’s case, we were unable to take advantage of this opportunity because we made plans too far ahead, when the school year was still tied to the old schedule. We thought there would still be classes until holy week, so the tickets and bookings were purchased with that in mind. Anyhoo, at least now we have an idea of what next year’s summer schedule is like. That is if DepEd doesn’t do another flipflop.
Another thing we have to consider now that the summer vacation is back to its old schedule is the heat. Although it is better that the kids are at home instead of school, where the heat can be amplified by being in a crowded and poorly ventilated classroom, parents also have to make sure that our homes are comfy for the kids who will be spending most of their summer break there. Checking on the ventilation, having electric fans or aircons checked, and making sure everybody is well hydrated is something we have to keep in mind during today’s summers, which can get extremely hot because of a warming planet.
If you come to think of it, practicing Catholics should be staying home during the Holy Week while they pray and reflect, because that is what the long weekend holiday is primarily about. Unfortunately, these days only those who do not have the budget, have not made plans, are taking care of a sick family member, have kids somehow still in school, or those who are involved in long-running holy week traditions are the ones left behind to do the 7 churches, way of the cross, or attend the procession.
That is a concern that church leaders will need to address, because when not everyone goes away during the holy week, there is still hope for the traditions to continue for at least another generation or so. Although the way I see it, the best way to keep those traditions and rituals going is if the church and state combine powers to make it clear to the faithful that if they stop holy weeking properly, there might come a time in the future, when the holy day is no longer relevant, that the holiday could also be revoked. What is the point of Holy Thursday and Good Friday if no one is doing the holy and good things, and everyone is just off to a vacation? It may sound inconceivable, but mind you, many countries do not have holidays during the Holy Week, and at most only celebrate Easter, which is always a Sunday.
Whether we like it or not, and even if we have tried to separate them in recent years, the Holy Week and summer vacation are inextricably linked, especially here in the Philippines. Maybe we should try harder to make them work together, ensuring that this most holy of holidays can somehow retain its identity and purpose, despite how the world is changing.*
