"Wielki post", the great fast: Lent and Easter in PolandEaster is coming and, in spite of the financial crisis, inflation and international tension, the hotel sector is rubbing its hands together in anticipation of the expected full house that is predicted. There are many millions who live Easter with passion, and many others who live "from" Easter. Easter. These days in which Christians celebrate the central mysteries of our faith are used by such an important sector as the hotel industry to make money and revitalize the battered economy.
Hotels, transportation, restaurants, terraces and bars are adjusting their offerings to the high demand by offering a wide selection of services for what is expected to be the most expensive Easter Week in history. Hopefully this will also translate into more jobs and better conditions for employees and suppliers.
There are many recommendations these days published in the press and shared by influencers: dream places, incredible offers, spectacular bargains... I also have my own recommendation for this Easter: it is the most welcoming destination, with the best atmosphere, the best food and the cheapest price that can be found in the market. And, most importantly: every year I leave more satisfied and with a greater sense of rest, joy and happiness. It is, of course, the Church.
Enjoying Holy Week together with the Christian community is that secret place that the tourist guides don't tell you about, that hidden place that doesn't appear in the accounts of the instagramers most famous.
While most people enjoy the days of rest, the gastronomy, the sun, the beaches or the cultural offerings that are also our public manifestations of faith, we Christians celebrate and invite everyone to celebrate with us, some transcendental events that, well lived, can change our lives. Beginning with Palm Sunday when, after a joyful manifestation with the cry of "Hosanna, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord", we solemnly proclaim the passion and death of the Lord. On this day we make present our contradictions: we say we love God, but at the moment of truth, we are not interested in his proposal.
The Easter Triduum
It will still be time to Lent (since this does not end until Holy Thursday), a time of penance that serves precisely for that, to realize our weakness, our lack of faith, our need to be redeemed in order to long for the salvation that will become effective in the great days. As the aperitif on that sunny terrace prepares us for the best lunch, Palm Sunday puts the Easter Triduum within reach.
On Holy Thursday, the first day of the Triduum, comes the best of the tasting menus. No Michelin star, no matter how healthy its menu is, offers a food that gives eternal life. And on this day it is prepared for us live, in front of our eyes during the Mass "in coena domini".
Bread and wine from heaven that lead us to love and serve. Few towns or tourist spots can boast of being as welcoming as the Christian community. On this Day of Fraternal Love we remember the millions of people the Church helps: immigrants, people at risk of exclusion, the elderly, single women, children... And we feel especially united to our brothers and sisters in the parish community, in the movement, in the brotherhood or sisterhood, because if there is a town where visitors can feel at home, it is the Holy People of God.
On the other hand, no spa or deck chair on the beach can give us the rest that Good Friday offers us. We carry many burdens in our lives, many crosses: illnesses, family problems, loss of loved ones, economic uncertainties... In the Good Friday offices we leave our heavy backpack at the foot of Calvary. To know that we are accompanied in our suffering by God himself and by his mother, the Virgin, is an incomparable consolation.
And after the hopeful parenthesis of Holy Saturday, the great Easter Vigil, the night that gives meaning to our life. The great end of the feast where we celebrate that God is faithful to his promises and frees us from the slavery of Pharaoh, from the death that stalks us. Is there any greater joy? And best of all: absolutely free of charge! God asks nothing in return, He does not need our effort, nor our good works. He gives himself out of pure love for each one of us. There is no better end to a dream week: to feel loved to the depths of your being, to the darkest of your weakness.
In the house of God
During this holy week, God invites us once again to enjoy in his house all his gifts: the best aperitif, the best meal, the best company, the best rest and the best festivities, all without paying. It is the "simpa" of which he already spoke to us about Isaiah when he sang:
"Hear ye, all ye that thirst, come ye for water; come ye also that have no money: buy wheat and eat; come ye and buy, without money and for nought, wine and milk: why spend money for that which does not feed, and wages for that which does not give plenty?"
Happy Easter.
Journalist. Graduate in Communication Sciences and Bachelor in Religious Sciences. He works in the Diocesan Delegation of Media in Malaga. His numerous "threads" on Twitter about faith and daily life have a great popularity.
