MORE GRATEFUL TO BE ALIVE (LOH CONTEST #159)

This week’s prompt made me really think about which holiday I actually liked. I thought of the New Year's and Christmas holidays, which are the most celebrated in most parts of the world, and I figured out that they weren’t at the top of the list.

Christmas comes with a lot of preparations—in the church, at home, and individually. The church would go from ordinary time to the season of Advent. Every family would clean up their houses. Individuals would buy new clothes, figure out a new pair of shoes to go with them, and get a new hairdo. There is a kind of unspoken joy in the air as every Christian looks forward to welcoming Jesus Christ. I am not indifferent to Christmas, but sometimes I find myself lacking connection to that particular solemnity. Although I am glad Jesus Christ was born, you will get to know why that is later.

Image credit is mine

The new year is a week after Christmas, and the preparations are more or less the same. The homilies would probably talk about the joys of Christmas and New Year's resolutions and how to keep them. They say it is easy, but it is actually tougher than it looks. I believe that as an individual, you should strive to be a better person than you were the last time that a particular situation occurred, and that it shouldn’t be dependent on which time of the year we are at.

I am indifferent about other holidays like Labour Day, Children's Day (maybe it’ll change when I start to have kids), Independence Day (I am not exactly proud of this country right now), and others like that.

I care a bit about Mother’s and Father’s Day, because one day isn’t enough to celebrate them for being who they are to us.

I love Easter! The church starts with the Lenten season, which precedes Easter. There is Ash Wednesday, which signifies the start of Lent. During Lent, there are lots of teachings and prayers said to remind us of the life and worldly sufferings of Jesus. We are reminded to keep all commandments, the greatest of which is love, to prepare our hearts to receive God, turn away from our wicked ways, and flee from sin. It is organised, and year after year of observing Lent hasn’t made me love the process any less. Lenten season comes with prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, which are the three pillars of length.

The final week of Lent is the Holy Week, which starts on Palm Sunday; in fact, it is the only time we use the word ‘Halleluia’ until Easter Sunday. All through Lent, we use Glory to God and Praise Be instead. Lent is a time of deep reflection and prayer. It is a time to dive into your spirituality and build it. If I wasn’t doing right before then, I would want to do right and say prayers asking for help to keep doing the right things after lent.

After this, we observe the Triduum-Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Saturday, which include the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, the blessing of holy oils, and the washing of the feet; the Mass of the Lord’s Passion; and the Mass of the Resurrection of the Lord.

The precision of exactly forty days of fasting from Ash Wednesday to Holy Wednesday, also called spy Wednesday, and the sequential arrangement of readings and homilies, as well as the choice of songs and the dressing of the church, either in purple or red, are things I enjoy and actively take part in.

Image credit is mine

This is the only season I am most reflective about myself, the life I am living, and the life I would like to live. I am glad that I am loved by God and that his son, Jesus, died for me. I love the fact that I am reminded for about two months every year. It is a season that reminds me about the fragility of human life and the life after death, and indeed, it makes me more grateful to be alive.