Photos Disrespecting the Lenten Cross

Just a day after the nation observed Lent, life - and cyberspace - returned from a brief hiatus but in a rather unpleasant way.

Many netizens are crying foul over a girl's apparent disrespect for religious symbols as she posed for a photo looking like she was nailed to a cross.

The photo was taken by a certain Maike Domingo in Bgy. Lourdes in Angeles, Pampanga. His Facebook album would also reveal that others had posed for the same photo too, including a foriegn woman and two men who appeared to be Filipinos.

Another photo showed children climbing up the cross, as if let loose in a playground.

GMA News Online has tried but failed to get in touch with Domingo on the matter.

'Forgive them for they know not what they do'

The photo, which as of posting time had over 5,000 shares on Facebook, has sparked online rage. The older population of the Pinoy cyberspace tried to put it in context with youth and its subscription to modernism.

But some have opted to contain their ire and pray instead for the individuals, quoting Luke 23:34: "Father forgive them for they know not what they do."

GMA News Online has stumbled upon another photo which appeared to have been taken in the same place in Angeles, Pampanga. The photo, taken by photographer Jay Javier, is a jumpshot of two girls in front of the cross.

Javier, on his Facebook page, said the photo was taken on Good Friday and commented, "Even non-believers will cringe at the sight of this blatant show of disrespect and impropriety."

'Officials didn't do anything about it'

Javier also told GMA News Online that he approached the event officials/organizers to "do something about it, but they just appeared to have tolerated it."

"They made a feeble attempt to stop these follies, but the person tasked to that left immediately after," Javier said. "The 'set' with the crosses were left unattended, for anyone to play in, and do poses like [these] photos."

Caritas Manila executive director Fr. Anton Pascual said over Catholic station Radyo Veritas that today's youth seemed to have lost respect for spiritual things along with their moral values, and need to be educated about it.

"Kaya’t  ipagdasal natin ang ating mga kabataan ngayon at mabigyan ng tamang pag-aaral ng paggalang sa mga bagay na esperitwal tulad ng crucifix at malaman  din ng mga kabataan na ito ang identity at  moral values at paggalang sa relihiyon," Pascual said.

Pascual also reminded that social media, despite its power to connect people, can be used for wrong.

"Pero ito (social media) ay  binibigyan natin ng babala ng ating Simbahan na  bagamat ito ay nakatutulong itoy maaari ding maging instrumento upang magdulot ng isang masamang katuruan at lalason sa mga kaiasiapn ng mga kabataan tulad ng paglabag sa Gospel values at sa tinatawag natin na good manners and right conduct," he added. 

— RSJ/KBK, GMA News

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/254331/scitech/socialmedia/photos-disrespecting-lenten-cross-earn-ire-online

Happy Easter 2012

Have a Blessed Black Saturday

This is the most blessed Sabbath on which Christ sleeps, but on the third day he shall rise again. Therefore, O Lord our God, we sing to you a hymn, a song to your burial: By your burial you have opened for us the gates of life, and by your death you have slain death and hell. O God, our deliverer, blessed are You!

Good Friday 2012

Shrine of Jesus

Went to Seaside while waiting for the Daan ng Kruz

The Eye at MOA

grabbed refreshments at Quickly coz the scourging heat is killing us

Half Mass

the crowd waiting for the Daan ng Kruz

Good Friday Procession

plain candle cannot withstand the wind coming from the bay that's why we have these torches

Revisiting Visita Iglesia

@ Holy Family Chapel Parish in Eastwood. One of the 7 churches we visited on Maundy Thursday of 2010 with my family and relatives.

Visita Iglesia, which in Spanish means “church visit,” is one of the oldest Christian traditions being practiced in the Philippines. To some it has become a yearly pilgrimage of prayer and meditation. Brought into the country by the Spaniards, the Holy Thursday tradition can be traced way back to the establishment of the Church when Christians visited the seven Basilicas in Rome for the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

Maundy Thursday Explained

Maundy Thursday is observed by Christians on the Thursday before Easter. "Holy Thursday," as it is also commonly known, marks the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with his apostles prior to his betrayal, trial and crucifixion as portrayed in the Christian gospels.

While the Palm Sunday and Easter observances of Holy Week are generally more joyful, Maundy Thursday observances take on a more solemn tone and focus on two primary rituals that are portrayed in the biblical accounts of the Last Supper.

The name "Maundy Thursday" is derived from the Latin word mandatum meaning "commandment." The primary commandment of Jesus' message is found in the story of the Last Supper when Jesus humbles himself to wash the feet of his apostles prior to the traditional Passover meal. He then commands them to "Love one another as I have loved you" (John 13:34). In observance of this commandment, the act of feet-washing is often performed by clergy as part of Maundy Thursday church services.

The other important Christian ritual to come out of the Last Supper story is that of the Eucharist or Holy Communion. Described in all three of the synoptic gospels and expounded upon in Paul's epistle to the Corinthians, Christians take communion to replicate Jesus' giving of bread and wine to his apostles during their final meal together. While different denominations may maintain different specific interpretations of the ritual, many incorporate a special communion into the Maundy Thursday liturgy.

Despite the fact that there has been some debate over the actual dating of the Last Supper within Holy Week, the traditional identification as a Passover meal has had a strong influence on the way that many Christians mark Maundy Thursday. It is not uncommon for smaller groups or entire congregations to celebrate the occasion with a traditional Passover Seder instead of or in addition to church services and communion. The Maundy Thursday Seder has been used by many as an occasion to remember and celebrate the origins of Christianity in Judaism and the strong ties that the two religions maintain.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/18/maundy-thursday-2011-explained_n_850550.html

Lenten Reflections

LENTEN REFLECTIONS

1) Sometimes, God breaks our spirit to save our SOUL.

2) Sometimes, He breaks our heart to make us whole.

3) Sometimes, He sends us pain so we can be STRONGER.

4) Sometimes, He sends us failure so we can be humble.

5) Sometimes, He sends us illness so we can take better care of ourselves.

6) Sometimes, He takes "everything" away from us so we can learn the value of the little we have left.

HAVE A MEANINGFUL LENTEN SEASON.