Thoughts from Grandma's Funeral: From a Superstitious Fear of Life To a Hope-"Full" Living
i have been out from the community for two days to attend to the wake and funeral of my grandmother at pampanga. i was overwhelmed by the fidelity of our old folks to superstitious beliefs as regards the cult of the dead. no matter how i try to dissuade them, it would all end into following what has been the "practice."
in these short days, i could only remember these superstitious encounters:
reflecting on this moved me to realize the motive behind their "practice." people hold onto the superstitious beliefs, perhaps because they are to afraid to die. our blind necessity to follow them simply reflects how weak our faith and hope in God.
although i may have already learned this through catechesis, this experiences have all the more confirmed it. i get to all the more appreciate God's wisdom and love for giving us our freedom to run our lives and His grace to live it in its fullness.
when the remains of my grandmother has finally been laid to rest, i heard my uncle say in the vernacular, "she's done, and i'm not yet."
it's a profound thought to bring, "she's done, and i'm not yet." i find this not simply about reaching the end, or finishing the race as st. paul would say, it's about how we finish well and live life fully as we take all the good opportunities to better ourselves, to bring ourselves to perfection which God has wrought for us.
in these short days, i could only remember these superstitious encounters:
- no family member of the deceased should take a bath in the duration of the wake, especially at that very house where the wake was held. (i could not believe that some of my relatives haven't taken their bath for 7 days)
- no family member of the deceased should accompany a visiting friend to leave the house. ("this is to avoid the chain of death from occurring.")
- for the same reason mentioned, no visiting friend should take home anything (food, candies, material things, etc), taken from the house where the wake is held.
- thou shalt attend to the deceased 24/7. of course, family members may take turns, while others would sleep.
- i do not know for what reason, no family member should iron their clothes nor have their clothes ironed, at least, in the duration of the wake.
- rotate the coffin before bringing it out from the house ("so that the dead my be disoriented and never come back.")
- close all the windows and the doors of the house right after the coffin (the deceased) is brought out of the house.
- together with the coffin, all the things that were used during the wake should be brought out of the house.
- the coffin (deceased) should never retrace the same path it went through
- break the rosary and "you break the chain of death."
- all little children should go over the coffin "that the deceased may not visit them."
- while the coffin is being lowered, i heard a man murmuring in kapampangan, "you you have finished your journey, please send me your good fortune as i would need it.i promise you that i would pray for you for as long as i live."
reflecting on this moved me to realize the motive behind their "practice." people hold onto the superstitious beliefs, perhaps because they are to afraid to die. our blind necessity to follow them simply reflects how weak our faith and hope in God.
although i may have already learned this through catechesis, this experiences have all the more confirmed it. i get to all the more appreciate God's wisdom and love for giving us our freedom to run our lives and His grace to live it in its fullness.
when the remains of my grandmother has finally been laid to rest, i heard my uncle say in the vernacular, "she's done, and i'm not yet."
it's a profound thought to bring, "she's done, and i'm not yet." i find this not simply about reaching the end, or finishing the race as st. paul would say, it's about how we finish well and live life fully as we take all the good opportunities to better ourselves, to bring ourselves to perfection which God has wrought for us.
