Pahalagahan Nawa Natin ang Ritwal ng Ating Sariling Bayan

Isang buwan ng pagdiriwang ng panibagong buhay ang buwan ng Mayo. Ito ang buwan ng mga bulaklak at panahon ng ani. Dito din nakakasama-sama ang mga magkababayan lalo na sa Bohol kung saang may piyesta sa bawat lalawigan. At sa ibang dako naman, ito rin ang panahon ng pamamasyal at pagpapahinga bago sumalpak muli ang simula ng pasukan.

 

Mainam na pinapahalagahan natin ang pamamahinga, pagdiriwang at pagsasalo-salo. Sa mga ritwal na ito, binibigyan natin ng puwang ang ligayang dulot ng pagiging miyembro ng ating sari-sariling bayan at kultura. Tulad ko na taga-Camalig, Albay, talagang uuwi sa Camalig. Ang taga-Ilocos, uuwi doon. Ang taga-Mindanao, babalik sa lupang tinubuan. At doon muling pahahalagahan ang ating pinanggalingan. Wika ni Jose Rizal, “Ang hindi marunong lumingon sa pinanggalingan, hindi makakarating sa paroroonan.”

 

At dahil dito, kailangan matuto tayong panandaliang ipaubaya sa Diyos ang mga nakakabagabag sa atin upang “lumingon” sa sariling bayan. Pagdasal natin na pagkalooban tayo ng puso at kaluluwang bukas para sa Diyos. Tulungan tayong makita ang mga maaaring hadlang sa pagdiriwang ng ating pinagmulan.

Fresh and Simple in Easter

Easter Sunday is a celebration of what is new. This is actually the reason why our “Sabbath” is Sunday. The Jews celebrate the Sabbath on a Saturday. Since Jesus resurrected on a Sunday, Sunday became our Sabbaths. St. Paul says that the resurrection of Jesus is a new creation.

What right do we have to change it? Jesus said, “The Sabbath is made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” As the first day of the week, the first Christians dedicated the dies solis to the public and solemn worship of God (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor 16:2; Rev 1:10). St. Ignatius of Antioch (Ep. ad Magnes. ix) speaks of Christians as “no longer observing the Sabbath, but living in the observance of the Lord’s Day, on which also Our Lord rose again.”

This Easter Sunday, we celebrate by coming together and breaking bread as a community (Didache). We can therefore savor fresh and simple food as our homage to new Eden.

At home, ginataang langka is perfect with deep fried tilapia. The jackfruit is sliced and cooked in simmering thick coconut milk seasoned with garlic, black pepper, smoked fish (tinapa) or pork, siling labuyo and pink shrimp paste (balaw). Locals said that one has be ‘sensitive’ to the coconut milk to determine the perfect time to mix the chopped jackfruit. When the thick coconut milk begins to curdle to release some oil, you put everything into the wok.

These make it different from other provinces: First, the Bicol ginataang langka is cooked without ginger.  Second, the amount of small chili is determined by the cook. The hotter it gets, the more it becomes ours. The Guinness World record for eating sili is a relative: Bert Gonzales is the world’s “Sili King.”

The tastiest tilapia, I believe, is from Bicol. It is our version of the “St. Peter’s fish” which the disciple caught with a coin in its mouth (Gospel of Matthew). Ours are usually small, but they possess more flavor than their larger counterparts. Because we buy them swimming in a bucket of water in the market, the flavor is full and robust. At home, my mom would chop tomatoes and red shallots and mix them with black pepper, fish sauce and chili. The tomato salad is then filled into the stomachs of the tilapia and then deep fried covered in banana leaves to retain its juice.

Tilapia is best eaten smoking hot and dipped into spiced vinegar. A friend once remarked when tilapia has been cold from sitting for an hour: “It’s a dead fish.”

Clean the palate with chilled cubed watermelon. Dig in. Use your hands. It is still a mystery to me why our appetites increase when we eat with our bare hands. Maybe we’re not meant to use spoons.

Easter Sunday is an experience of community and the newness that oozes out of our relationships. We know that those who eat together become closer and closer to each other especially when stories are shared and celebrated.

Holy Thursday Noodles

We eat to live. Everything that we taste has a greater effect on our well-being and the health of others. It is therefore not a surprise that our Lord used the image of food in spreading the Good News.

Bread and wine takes center stage on Holy Thursday in the commemoration of the Institution of the Holy Eucharist. This is the oldest of all Holy Week observances with all others, like the consecration of the holy oils in the Chrism Mass (Missa Chrismalis) and the reconciliation of all penitents added to it.

In Rome, all these take place in the daytime. But in Africa, the celebration of the Last Supper is done after the evening meal to be more precise with the original circumstance. In fact, to make it more “palpable” it was customary in the olden times to take a bath before one participates in the celebration. You clean yourself before you eat. Like washing our hands before every meal. Washing ourselves is not just hygienic, it is a ritual that protects a value. Every meal is sacred: it is what gives us life, an experience of Who continually sustains it.

But never in the history of humanity has the Life-Giver wash the feet of those He has given life. And in doing so, Jesus has affirmed that the elusive joy is found, not in the accumulation of accolades, but in the very service of each other. And the ultimate source of joy is in true friendship – when one is willing to give one’s life for one’s friends. Mother Teresa said that we sometimes forget that we are meant for each other.

In Camalig, Albay, we do not break bread literally, but we use more carbohydrates than bread. With friends, we usually share pansit guisado with a twist. Yes, the chinese egg noodles acquire a Bicol twist: the lemon juice that we bathe the noodles is spiked with siling labuyo.

Since it is not yet Good Friday, you still can eat all you want. Perhaps, start with the spirit of the mass: enjoy pansit guisado with friends. And crush more small chilies for a fantastic dinner – like it was your last.