The Passion in Our Culture and Psyche
The Passion in Our Culture and Psyche
By Cesare A.X. Syjuco
Published in: The Manila Times, April 15, 1987
SACRED imagery in general, and the passion of Christ in particular, dominates the Pinoy's small pictorial galaxy — ever-present in our art and crafts, in our homes, our places of congregation and on our public conveyances — indeed, in every conceivable manner of decorative embellishment from peripheral ornaments to “chromatex” tatooes. There may be truth to the lighthearted observation that there are far many more pictures of the thorn-crowned Christ in this bustling city of man than in the whole of Papal Rome. The Filipino, it can be said, loves the passion like life itself.
On the other hand, Christian doctrine is a doctrine of resurrection, with both death in the flesh and death in the spirit as mere points of demarcation. It is a curious thing, therefore, that whereas most other Christian cultures emphasize the Resurrection as the high point of the Holy Week festivities, Filipinos should tend to underplay the good tidings of Easter in their obsession with the passion and death of our Lord.
It has been suggested that this unnatural preoccupation with martyrdom may have its roots in the defeatism that glorifies resignation and equates it with stoic surrender. This view has basis in fact, given that outright victory has been denied us as a nation for all of memory’s recall. The poet and sociologist Rene M. Castillo has written that Philippine history “is replete with martyrdom but devoid of victory.” A hard life characterized by endless struggle and betrayal has made us a people of all-too-willing sufferers.
For instance, the experience of EDSA — despite a hint of tarnish in retrospect — may well have been our first real encounter with the triumph of resurrection. In this light, we could not have been expected to have appreciated the good news of Eastertide before then, as we had never really known total victory over adversity.
Perhaps the years to come will show us the way to a celebration of the Holy Week that does not end with death on the cross. May the Pinoy and Easter be finally reconciled!
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Cesare A.X. Syjuco, “The Passion in Our Culture and Psyche” (page 1 of 1), The Manila Times, April 15, 1987
