EASTER WEEK IN GUATEMALA

EASTER WEEK IN GUATEMALA

In Guatemala, as in most of Latin America, Holy Week is the biggest holiday of the year with families from far and wide getting together to celebrate. By Thursday of Easter week, most businesses closed as everyone had off from work for the long holiday weekend. Being the hottest time of the year, people leave by the thousands for beaches and other vacation spots.

During the weeks prior to Holy week every Friday,

the Catholic traditional religious custom highlights processions in the streets. People in purple robes carrying floats depict various scenes of the events in the life of Jesus in the days prior to his crucifixion. During Holy week the processions become daily and much more elaborate. The height of the celebration is on Good Friday when every town is teeming with people to watch and participate in the festivities.

Early Friday morning finds many people out on the streets making beautiful colorful sawdust carpets which the parade will later walk pass over and destroy. The sawdust carpet is reminiscent of people putting down palm branches on the street for Jesus to walk over. Hundreds of costumed people pay for the privilege of taking their turn to carry the float with Jesus carrying his cross. The procession ends with a special mass in the Catholic Church.

Later on Friday evening an image of Jesus is carried to the cemetery for burial.

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Sunday morning on our way to church we saw more floats depicting the resurrection story. I pondered the activities of the Holy Week. In the U.S. we put our major emphasis on the joy of the resurrection and sing happy songs on Easter Sunday morning. Here more emphasis is placed on the suffering of Jesus and much thought is given to how we can identify with his suffering. Could it be that the people of Guatemala live with suffering and so are drawn to identify with the suffering of Jesus? While we in the States like to pretend that suffering doesn’t exist or that it is far from us. We like the victory and joy of the resurrection. We quickly pass over the sad part that includes pain and suffering and go on to the happy ending. I believe that Jesus wants us to ponder both his suffering and the victory of the resurrection story.

In the local Mennonite Church an all night prayer service was planned for Good Friday night. We decided to attend thinking that we would leave at midnight, but we stayed until they ended at 4am. The hours flew by quickly. There was singing, scripture, testimonies and prayer with breaks in between for fellowship. The bonding with the family of God made us feel like we had been in a family gathering.

We heard the report of another Kekchi Mennonite Church that baptized 52 new believers during their Easter services. Pray that these new believers would grow in their faith and find the victory of Jesus’ resurrection.

Rejoice with us in the power of our risen Saviour.

Love, Galen and Phyllis Groff