The quarantine chronicles: An Easter to remember
Iwrite this the Monday after Easter. Yesterday was perhaps the most celebratory day we have had in the past month. Sure, we were still all at home, but according to my social media feed, it did not stop people, especially families with youngsters, from mounting the traditional Easter festivities like an egg hunt. But this Easter more than ever, the true reason for the Lenten season was definitely not forgotten, and was most at the core of people’s shared sentiments. Undeniably, the Holy week is typically the busiest time not only for the Catholic church, but for the tourism industry and airlines as people take advantage of the long weekend and the trips – out of the country and out of town – abound. Besides the fasting and abstinence on Good Friday, it is admittedly so easy to get distracted and wayward from the real reason Lent is observed in the first place. The pretty pastels of Easter and the spring florals and meals cooked up oftentimes supersede the very reason we celebrate Easter: Jesus rising from the dead after he died for all of us to wash away our sins. This year, while Easter vigils and masses were attended online, I have absolutely no doubt that the meaning of it all resonated most. After all, the times speak to us like never before.
On a personal note, I most definitely felt the Lenten season more than ever before. Albeit the absence of the traditional bisita Iglesia, washing of the feet, Easter masses, and the like, I felt that the solemnity of the past few days was reminiscent of Jesus dying on the cross. Lent, after all, is about sacrifice, in the same way that Easter is about the hope of new beginnings. I typically give up something for Lent – a favorite food or a hobby, for instance – but this time, I learned that giving more abundantly is sometimes much more needed and, to an extent, can be a bigger sacrifice. What is important at the end of the day is not necessarily depriving yourself of indulgence or a vice, but making sure that the greater good and community is benefitting from your actions and gesture.
Despite the most unusual circumstance we all have found ourselves in, this Lenten season has taught me to see life for what it truly is and should mean. It has awakened me to appreciate all the smallest blessings that have come my way. It has shone light on what truly matters and what life’s real essentials are, versus the luxuries we are blessed to experience and have. It has placed so many things into perspective, but was a most blatant reminder of those who we truly cannot live without. It put the spotlight on who real friends are – those who make the effort to nurture relationships and check up on you, versus those who you only see in socials, or on social media. It has taught me that despite the innate social nature of humans, we are able to find not only happiness, but more importantly, contentment among our nearest and dearest, and when our “new normal” life resumes, we can look back at these times to remind ourselves that we need not be present in every single event, lunch, or dinner date that we are invited to. It is okay to say no, and that self-preservation will take us further than we expect. Those who matter will not mind, and will always find the time, and those who will mind perhaps do not merit a place in your life after all.
It is a time that has taught us acceptance. We have all been placed in a situation, that has found us all on our knees praying intently by forces unknown. It has undeniably been a tough time where we all battle uncertainties, and though restrictions may be less, and life will slowly return to a “new normal,” we will definitely still continue to battle the invisible enemy in the months to come. The thought of a four-week lockdown seemed so far fetched at the time it was implemented. We had so many “what ifs” and questions, but here we are, a month later, with renewed perspectives and a positively altered mindset. Indeed, we will all come out of this stronger and more resilient.