Last week was Samana Santa (Holy Week) in Costa Rica. It's an interesting phenomenon...really a big deal, but not like one might guess. As early as Monday, you can feel it. There is an anticipation that this week is going to be different. Tuesday things are a little abnormal, because people are starting to leave town for the week, but business is still going on. Most stores are open. Buses are running on a normal schedule. But by Wednesday the differences are visible. Some businesses are closed, and there are fewer cars on the road. On Thursday you know you are in holidays. Many, in fact the majority, of the stores are closed and there is limited bus service. Friday the town is shut down. Virtually nothing is open. (We did eat out in an American restaurant.) Saturday is not back to normal, but more so than Friday. Easter Sunday is just a normal Sunday.
But remember, this is Samana Santa, Holy Week. Now, if Holy means "set apart" or "different", the name fits. But you would think Holy Week, preceding Easter Sunday, would have a lot of religious significance. Right? Maybe it did at some point. But it has "evolved" (devolved?) into more of a spring break type of holiday, although a family spring break. The schools are out for the week. Families go to the beach by the droves. It's a time to get out of town.
Oh, to be sure some of the Catholic churches have special processionals on Friday where they have sort of a parade and carry a glass case with a dead "Jesus" in it. There is a lot of emphasis on the suffering of Jesus on the cross, and about as much on the suffering of his mother, Mary. Processionals will have "Jesus" in the glass case followed by a statue of Mary dressed in her regal robes. And...that about does it. Very little, if anything, is said about the resurrection. The strange thing is that many evangelical churches don't make a big deal of Easter Sunday either. In fact, we are told that attendance is normally down on Easter Sunday. Many people are away on vacation for Samana Santa. Our church did have some "Easter" hymns, but the sermon was not about the resurrection at all. What probably was once intended as an emphasis on the passion of Christ, the crucifixion that paid for our sins, and the resurrection that demonstrated and promised us life, has become an opportunity to go away for the week and play at the beach.
OK. I don't know. Is that worse than it being only an excuse to get a new dress or tie? Have we gringo evangelicals lost the significance too? I hope not. But sometimes things do get a little mixed up. I heard yesterday a report of a man who was complaining that "they" were trying to dechristianize everything in America. "They" were even trying to take the "Christian" out of the easter bunny. Lord help us.
