Frank J. Hernando
April 5-12, 2020
Quezon City
Holy Week Meditations 2020
In the time of COVID-19 global pandemic
PASSION SUNDAY / PALM SUNDAY
Isaiah 50:4-9a
50:4 The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakens-- wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught.
50:5 The Lord GOD has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I did not turn backward.
50:6 I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide my face from insult and spitting.
50:7 The Lord GOD helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame;
50:8 he who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who are my adversaries? Let them confront me.
50:9a It is the Lord GOD who helps me; who will declare me guilty?
Psalm 31:9-16
31:9 Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eye wastes away from grief, my soul and body also.
31:10 For my life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my misery, and my bones waste away.
31:11 I am the scorn of all my adversaries, a horror to my neighbors, an object of dread to my acquaintances; those who see me in the street flee from me.
31:12 I have passed out of mind like one who is dead; I have become like a broken vessel.
31:13 For I hear the whispering of many-- terror all around!-- as they scheme together against me, as they plot to take my life.
31:14 But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, "You are my God."
31:15 My times are in your hand; deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors.
31:16 Let your face shine upon your servant; save me in your steadfast love.
Matthew 21:1-11
21:1 When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples,
21:2 saying to them, "Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me.
21:3 If anyone says anything to you, just say this, 'The Lord needs them.' And he will send them immediately."
21:4 This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying,
21:5 "Tell the daughter of Zion, Look, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey."
21:6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them;
21:7 they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them.
21:8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
21:9 The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!"
21:10 When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, "Who is this?"
21:11 The crowds were saying, "This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee."
Matthew 26:14-27:66
26:14 Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests
26:15 and said, "What will you give me if I betray him to you?" They paid him thirty pieces of silver.
26:16 And from that moment he began to look for an opportunity to betray him.
26:17 On the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Where do you want us to make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?"
26:18 He said, "Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, 'The Teacher says, My time is near; I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.'"
26:19 So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover meal.
26:20 When it was evening, he took his place with the twelve;
26:21 and while they were eating, he said, "Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me."
26:22 And they became greatly distressed and began to say to him one after another, "Surely not I, Lord?"
26:23 He answered, "The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me.
26:24 The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born."
26:25 Judas, who betrayed him, said, "Surely not I, Rabbi?" He replied, "You have said so."
26:26 While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is my body."
26:27 Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you;
26:28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
26:29 I tell you, I will never again drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom."
26:30 When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
26:31 Then Jesus said to them, "You will all become deserters because of me this night; for it is written, 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.'
26:32 But after I am raised up, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.”
TERROR ALL AROUND
For I hear the whispering of many-- terror all around!-- as they scheme together against me, as they plot to take my life. (Ps. 31: 13)
This year Passion Sunday or Palm Sunday in the Philippines falls within the Enhanced Community Quarantine due to COVID-19 pandemic, which has locked down Luzon and was followed suit by the provincial and municipal governments all the over the country. Many churches have been observing the government’s ordinances to maintain ‘social’ or physical distancing so as to prevent contracting the COVID-19 virus, that consequently prevented mass gatherings including religious and worship services in the churches. But the tenacity of the Christians hold their live streaming worship or pastors video-record their sermons and mediations so that members with internet access and have the convenience of electronic devices, such as smart cellular phones, electronic tablets and computers can still spend time meditating or worshipping right at their living room or in their bedrooms.
Fearsome: the global human predicament brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic
At the rousing of COVID-19 pandemic, human societies have been alarmed at the extent of infection and the possibility of contagion of the virus that will kill hundreds of thousands of people around the world. The invisible virulent microorganism has been a threat to human life and if not counteracted and control its spread will destroy a large number of population in many countries around the world and human extinction is not far from reality. This is what is categorized as primal fear.
Primal fear originates from the life-consciousness of mammals, wherein biological life being lived in and sustained by nature through availability of adequate food for nourishment, water and the possibility for procreation are threatened by either environmental upheaval or by cosmic phenomenon that would destroy life and would cost unsurmountable destruction on the living creatures. It is lodged in the human collective consciousness embedded in the human genes that responds both on the defensive and offensive manner.
The Psalmist articulated the defensive response to the threats he experienced. He utters a powerful lament in verse 9, one that evokes physical and psychological torment and poignantly, the devastating impact of other people’s scorn on him. The exact nature and extent of his distress and suffering is not known, but pain of some sort has engulfed and overpowered the sufferer, some affection whether physical or psychological has filled the speaker’s life.
There is the fear of debilitating illness that will bring scorn from family, friends and the community. Oftentimes the fear is imagined or a some kind of denial of one’s mortality and death. This kind of fear can also be grounded on the fear of extreme pain the sufferer has to bear until the death comes and bring end to all the pain and sufferings. The psalmist’s eye and soul and body waste away from grief; the speaker’s strength fails and bones waste away (v.10). Severe physical suffering like those who suffers from infection of COVID-19 and similar viral infection that attacks the respiratory system and weakens other body organs is felt deeply in the souls and in the bones.
Fear of social disorganization: panic buying, discrimination, opportunism and corruption in management of resources has risen
There is also the fear of losing control of other people or of the rein of power such as what the state suffers. In the present dispensation there is fear of inability to unite different socio-economic groups or classes in society as the COVID-19 pandemic takes its death toll and increasing number of infections as more people are being tested. The fear of political inutility that combines inefficiency and irrelevance in protecting the large majority of the people and the providing adequate social services,, e.g. provision of food, swift and quality health and medical services to people.
The fear of social disorganization due to threat of mass viral infection has been espoused by the Hollywood movies such as the Contagion, and other movies that showed how large population of societies around the world perished due to pandemics or by biochemical warfare on earth. Or this fear can be gleaned from what the Philippine President has spoken of “shooting down those who are protesting or demanding food from the government.” This fear is accompanied with the use of police power by the state, deploying police forces and the military to instill fear and require obedience from the authorities.
Fear of losing moral authority over family members, and community can be the cause of shame and degradation. This may come out as parents or elderly members of the family and the community insist on the rightness their values as against the non compromising values of the another generation. Openness to the life that the youth has chosen to exemplify has been considered as unacceptable and morally offensive. The assertion of elderly family members or of political leaders’ fear of losing grips moral authority are hopelessly covering their political and moral bases preventing their loss of control.
Social degradation has sapped the body of strength and the soul with power
The COVID-19 pandemic has also brought about social degradation, the scorn, discrimination and rejection of others in communities and the larger society. The sufferings of the poor and needy sectors of the Philippine society has been articulated by the psalmist. The speaker felt scorned and discriminated by adversaries, that compassion is nowhere to be found. Rejection and revulsion are felt closer to home by the psalmist, saying “I am the scorn of all my adversaries, a horror to my neighbors, an object of dread to my acquaintances; those who see me in the street flee from me. I have passed out of mind like one who is dead; I have become like a broken vessel. (31: 11-12)
There were bus-loads of Filipino overseas Seafarers who have returned home after their contract ended and were ferried to by their manning agencies to their hotels and staff houses for 14 days quarantine, but they were not allowed entry by municipal and local government unit. There were urban poor residents in San Roque Quezon City who have went out to the streets of EDSA to seek food assistance from the city government, because they were promised, but not much was delivered after more two weeks of Enhance Community Quarantine. There were construction workers in the National Capital Region who were jobless as construction work were halted as decreed by the government. They decided to go home by foot to their distant homes in Pangasinan and Bicol Region, but many of them were stopped and were brought back to Baclaran and quarantined.
Everybody is a suspect as carrier of the COVID-19 virus and those who are coming in from Metro Manila or from overseas travel are not allowed in many places as people are scared being infected. The local communities are undergoing strain and stress economically and psychologically. Many jobs were lost especially in the informal economy where millions are employed on temporary basis. Others are cab and tricycle drivers, sidewalk vendors, and the most socially degraded are the people living on the streets.
An ordinary citizen caught into this pandemic and overwhelming dire economic situation can be overwhelmed like the psalmist, saying, “For I hear the whispering of many-- terror all around!-- as they scheme together against me, as they plot to take my life” (v.13). It is the social degradation, the scorn and rejection of others, which inflicts the deepest wounds upon the afflicted. Even those on whom one can expect to depend in times of trouble, such as family and relatives have abandoned the afflicted person. Indeed, the psalmist is as good as dead to others: “I have passed out of mind like one who is dead” (verse 12a). No one gives any thought to one in such great distress. The psalmist feels useless, worthless, utterly unwanted, “like a broken vessel” (verse 12b).
Our connection with Jesus Christ’s Passion and our hope
Yet the psalmist continues to proclaim trust in the Lord; indeed, the speaker clings to God as the only one on whom the afflicted one can depend. “But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, ‘You are my God’ ” (verse 14). In the prolonged enhanced community quarantine of many Filipinos and people in many countries around the world, the sense of direction is dimmed, and our sense of security might still be in the dark tunnels of the future, but we don’t totally despair. As God’s people the isolation and violence that affliction COVID-19 is contrasted by the “hands-on” imagery of God’s presence with the sufferer. “My times are in your hand; deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors” (verse 15).
The psalmist calls on God to let God’s “face shine upon your servant” (verse 16a). This verse recalls the familiar refrain of Numbers 6:25: “the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you.” This is not only a call for God to show God’s favor to the sufferer, it is also a cry for the very presence of God with the sufferer a cry for help for the COVID-19 infected patients, PUIs, PUMs. This verse continues, “save me in your steadfast love” (verse 16b). The word translated as “steadfast love,” hesed, refers to God’s covenantal love for Israel, God’s promise to “be for” God’s people. It is from within that covenantal love that the psalmist calls for God’s salvation, with assurance that it will be received. This love must grow more and more as the overcome the powers and instrumentalities in our world that allows life to the threatened by their unbridled greed and manipulative schemes for profit.
Let me quote Elizabeth Webb in her meditation on the Palm 31 and the rest of the Passion and Palm Sunday Celebration.
The appropriateness of this text for Passion Sunday is obvious: Jesus is the one afflicted and scorned. Indeed, in the Gospel of Luke (23:46), Jesus utters words from this Psalm on the cross: “Into your hands I commit my spirit” (verse 5). The social degradation and the continued trust in God of Psalm 31 resonate loudly with the Passion of Christ. But how does this text fit with an observance of Palm Sunday? This is the day of Jesus’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The crowds that gather do so not to revile him, but to revere him, laying down palm fronds and cloaks to pave his way into the city of God. How does this celebration square with the lament of an afflicted person, rejected and abandoned by others? That human tendency to hate the afflicted, which Simone Weil identifies so aptly, provides a clue. We can turn against each other on a dime. In a matter of days, the crowd that cries “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Mark 10:9b) could very well be the same crowd that cries, “Crucify him!” (Mark 15:13). The one who rides into Jerusalem on a carpet of cloaks is also the one who knows our deepest afflictions, and, through the inexhaustible compassion of God, takes them into Godself. We are far from abandoned in our affliction; we are enfolded in the love of God. Being so embraced, we are formed not to scorn, but to embrace afflicted persons whom we meet.
May the passion of our Savior Jesus Christ find us more responsive to the needs of our communities. My prayers for all the churches and communities for God’s guidance and sustenance as you discern God’s direction and appropriate fresh hopes in the coming days and weeks of physical distancing but socially and collectively closer, amidst the affliction we all bear in our bodies. Amen.
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Source Reference: Elizabeth Webb, http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2416
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