Holy week came in a bit early this year but that’s because it doesn’t really have a fixed date. And as changing as the date of this particular holiday are the things that I observed among the people as they go along their pilgrimage to the Grotto shrine here in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan.
Years back, I’d often see old people who are honestly religious and devoted walking for kilometers among the rest of the thousands of other pilgrims finding their way to Grotto. Some of them would carry religious statues and photos, praying along the way. Others go as far as carrying crosses, wearing thorny crowns and whipping their backs with homemade scourges.
Slowly, as each year passed by, less and less “real” devotees and more and more people who are nothing more than just curious are coming to Grotto. This year, we see women wearing really seductive clothing. Trying to beat the women in seductiveness are the gay people who wear really really short skirts. Then of course there are the men who feast their eyes with these hot sights. I heard people cursing instead of praying, young unmarried couples kissing in the streets instead of doing penance and lots of thieves in the streets.
While I’m not a religious person myself, I find it really surprising that are a lot less pious believers nowadays. Immorality seems to be more rampant most probably because today’s role models are immoral themselves.
I saw three cases of cellphone snatching just in front our house - perhaps God’s own way of punishing these mongrels. The poor ladies can’t do anything but scream “tulungan nyo ako! magnanakaw, magnanakaw! tulungan nyo ako!” (help me! thieves, thieves! help me!) There was even a case when one of the snatchers fired his gun to scare the victims.
Is our modern society’s consideration of religion lower than before? Are people starting to think that God doesn’t really care and so they rebel in the thought that nobody really is watching? I actually find a rebellious Christian more dangerous than a true non-believer simply because a rebel is trying to prove something to his so-called God while a non-believer simply is a non-believer and doesn’t try to prove anything to any God because he doesn’t believe in God in the first place.
Well oh well, there goes my observation and a few lines of my own personal comment on what I’ve seen. What about you, what did you observe?
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