Easter 2016 Message

Jesus's death on the cross was a spectacle that made people leave Calvary beating their breasts (Luke 23:48). The act of beating one's breast signifies sorrow or contrition, the way we strike our breasts during the "I confess" part in the Mass particularly at the words "through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault."

Through the various acts of piety and mercy we have done in Lent, we have expressed sorrow for our sins. Through these various acts we have, figuratively speaking, beat our breasts.

And yet, the story does not end with Jesus' horrible dying. Three days later, He rose again from the dead as He has spoken.  Just when people thought that Jesus was a false Messiah, a hoax, a complete failure, lo and behold Him appearing to His followers saying "Peace be with you" (John 20:21). God is indeed a God of surprises. 

As Jesus killed sin and death by His self-sacrifice on the cross, His resurrection has given us new life, a life united with Him!  How great is God's mercy indeed!

And what should be our response to such great mercy?  It is summed up in a short, but meaningful prayer: Jesus, I trust in You!

As we celebrate our Lord's Resurrection let us strive to be more trustful of His mercy. Less beating of breasts, more beating of heart for Him and for others especially those who are still left in the dark, those who have rejected or doubted God's mercy, and those who have not yet known Jesus.

I would like to take this opportunity too to thank you for your continued support especially in our annual Holy Week special, The Seven Last Words. My special thanks go to Berwyn Bautista, Fr Judy Banez, Beth Dantes, Ana Payod-Balla, Carlo Malaluan, and Judith Castro-Songlingco for sharing their reflections in this year's devotion. 

Thanks too to Allan Dabu for designing our poster, Mike Flores for designing our layout, Grace Madrinan for posting the reflections in our Facebook page, and Vlad Reyes for liaising with Arzobispado de Manila and for writing the Epilogue.  Last but not least, thank you to His Eminence Luis Antonio G. Cardinal Tagle for writing the Prologue. I hope that this devotion has enhanced your spiritual journey towards Easter.

In behalf of the web’s Editorial Board and staff, I wish you all a blessed Easter!

May the Risen Jesus, the Face of the Father's Mercy, bless you all!

Ang inyong manong,

Pietro S. Albano

Editor-in-Chief

Holy Week Message 2015

The beggar by the temple gate called 'Beautiful' came for a surprise that fateful day. As he extended his hands for alms, the apostles Peter and John told him - in the name of Jesus - to rise up and walk (Acts 3:6).

Poverty has a crippling effect on us as individuals, as a community, as a nation, as a world.  Remember those times when the Philippines was called “the sick man of Asia”? Remember too those moments when we have to give up something because we wanted a loved one to finish his/her studies?

Sacred Scriptures is also full of stories and lessons on poverty and the call to alleviate those who suffer from it.  One of these stories is about the sore-covered Lazarus and the uncaring rich man and how their fates changed in the after-life (Luke 16:19-31).  Another story that comes to mind is when Jesus felt pity on the poor who were listening to His preaching all day and told His disciples "to give them something to eat" (cf. Mark 6:37).  Ultimately, Jesus, in the words of St Paul "emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found in human appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross" (Philippians 2:7-8).

We are now in Holy Week. Before us is the Crucified Jesus, the epitome of poverty, whose thoughts are still for the good of His flock, especially the poor!  Here in anluwage.com, we offer you the “The Seven Last Words”, an online devotion we have been holding since we started the web in 2005.  I am grateful to those who have contributed to this devotion especially to our reflection writers representing the various sectors and ministries serving the poor.  There are also other sections in the web such as God-speak which serves as a good spiritual companion this Holy Week. Join us then, be enriched, and share that enrichment with others especially those in need. Thank you.

A blessed Holy Week to all!

Vladimir V Reyes

President

Tanghalang Anluwage, Inc

I Know My Savior Lives

In my heart, I know my Savior lives

I can hear him calling tenderly my name.
Over sin and death he has prevailed
In his glory, in his new life we partake!

One of the famous characters I truly admire in the Lord's Passion narrative is St Mary Magdalene. Known as the "apostle to the apostles", this beloved saint has been often misidentified with the adulterous woman in the Gospel of St John or the sister of Lazarus who has the same name.

Unlike the disciples of the Lord, Mary of Magdalene did not hid herself from the shame and ridicule that would befall any follower of Christ that first Good Friday. The popular movie of the 70s, "Jesus of Nazareth" showed her crying for Jesus' release when almost all of the mob in Pilate's court were shouting the opposite. Mary was there at the foot of the cross together with the other Marys, especially the Blessed Virgin Mary. She was there too guarding the tomb when Christ was laid to rest there and, she was on her way there to anoint the body of the Lord when she saw the stone rolled.

Mary Magdalene experienced how gracious this carpenter-turned-itinerant teacher was. She began to know Him more and more! From that knowledge she developed a love for Him, a love that prodded her to serve Him come hell or high water. She was privileged to be one of those faithful followers to whom the Lord appeared when He rose again from the dead. The Lord rewards those who would remain faithful to Him to the end, isn't it?

The above song entitled "Song of Mary Magdalene" sums up Mary Magdalene's belief in the resurrection and its effect on all who would share in her belief. We ask her intercession and inspiration that our lives would truly bear witness to Jesus' triumph over sin and death; that our lives would truly be a message of hope of that new life in union with our Lord.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your support and participation in our online Lenten and Holy Week projects particularly The Seven Last Words. Through this journey we hope that the lessons we learned in Lent would make us more knowledgeable of who the Lord really is in our life and from that we may truly love Him and dedicate ourselves wholly to His cause. If we have died with Him on the cross, we'll surely rise with Him to new life, a life to the full!

This May we welcome a new staff writer: Ms Herminia "Grace" Jamandri-Flores. Grace will be writing the God-speak reflections for the coming month. We hope you stay tuned so we could all continue to know more about our Lord, nurturing ourselves with His Word so we could ensure that the new life He has breathed on us at Easter would be as vibrant and inspiring to others as possible.

A Blessed Easter to you and your loved ones!

God bless.

In behalf of www.anluwage.com


Pietro S Albano
Editor-in-Chief

Thank God it's Holy Week!

Hello everyone!

Please allow me to start this message by inviting you all to walk with us as we take that spiritually satisfying journey with Christ this Holy week and Easter. The spiritual journey includes meaningful reflections from our several invited guest priests through our special feature, The Seven Last Words; personal reflections from our writers in God-speak and other readings and videos related to Holy Week. May you encounter Christ and grow in Him as we go through this journey together, with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Holy Week might be the busiest time for the Church with the most meaningful events as we relive Jesus sufferings and victory over death. I remember how we in Anluwage, way back in the 1990s, are working double time to lead and participate in the different Holy Week activities while trying to renew and recharge our faith with the Lord. We have held street Senakulo, done visita iglesia on foot, participated in "Pabasa", Stations of the Cross, "Salubong", and many more. Indeed, Holy Week is filled with soul saving activities. It is the time fully dedicated to our Lord, to purify our souls and to strengthen our faith. It offers a lot of opportunities for us to reunite with the Lord, to repent and be renewed, to further strengthen our connection with Him and to savor the so many blessings we have received and are continuously receiving from Him.

Let us grab that chance to walk with Jesus this Holy Week and with Him, celebrate Easter, His victory, which won us the eternal life in heaven! And as we honor the gifts of Easter, may Jesus resurrect and reign in our hearts forever!

Mabuhay si Jesus!


Anabelle Payod-Balla
Faith Section Editor