THROUGH UNTRUE Fr. Rolando V. dela Rosa, O.P. Filipino religiosity peaks during Holy Week. If not for the pandemic and the government-imposed restrictions and protocols, many of us would be doing our usual Holy Week observances these coming days. Families would flock to churches for the annual Visita Iglesia and Way of the Cross. Young people who are devotees of the Black Nazarene would walk barefoot on scorching asphalt streets, bearing a replica of the venerated image. On Good Friday, we would listen to preachers sharing their insights on the seven last words of Jesus on the cross. We would be hearing the traditional Pasión. Foreign observers criticize Filipino religiosity as being focused mostly on guilt, sin, suffering and death. Perhaps this is because most of them only come to witness the gory Holy Week spectacles like the crucifixion of some men and women who do this as their annual "panata," and other esoteric practices that are unique in our country. These observers actually see only half of the picture. For us, Filipinos, the Christian religion is also expressed in joy, renewal, healing, and resurrection. We manifest our robust religiosity when we celebrate the birth of Jesus (ours is the longest Christmas celebration). We celebrate rebirth and renewal during the Easter season. We have many fiestas and festivals celebrating the triumph of faith over pain and misery. We do not look at ourselves only as the proverbial Juan de la Cruz. We see ourselves as joyful Easter people who take delight in the ordinary miracles that happen in our lives. Like all Christians, we Filipinos struggle to avoid two extreme understanding of Christianity—one that adores in a Christ without a cross, and one that worships a cross without Christ. The first is a happy-go-lucky religion that is allergic to suffering. During Holy Week, Filipinos who profess this type of religion usually take a trip abroad, or flock to beaches and hotels to revel in an orgy of eating, partying, swimming, drinking and Easter egg-hunting. Their motto is: "Enjoy yourself, it's later than you think."  They believe that God created them to indulge in the pleasures of this world, and it would be an insult to Him if they went against His plans. They see no reason for living, if suffering is inevitable. Those who understand Christianity as a religion of the cross sees God as a stern judge, who delights in seeing us miserable, and whom we must appease with sacrifices to avoid punishment for our sins. This is exemplified by a friend who had attained great success in business but seemed to find no pleasure in life. When I congratulated her for her achievements, she told me: "Don’t be deceived by my seeming success.  When things get better in my life, they tend to get worse afterwards. And the 'better' never lasts long. It is the 'worse' that endures and recurs. This is my life pattern." When I told her she had practically everything she needed to be happy—her big house, expensive car, flourishing business, and lots of money in the bank, she replied: "I can't seem to enjoy myself without feeling guilty. I think God will punish me for indulging in those things that make me happy. Perhaps I am destined to be like Bernadette Soubirous who said: 'I can only be happy in the next life.'” How sad. She understands religion as a perpetual guilt trip and she had to pay for it with her self-inflicted suffering.  I am convinced that majority of us practice authentic Christianity that sees both Jesus and the Cross as inseparable. Many Filipinos believe that without Jesus, pain and suffering are meaningless. We also believe that without the Cross, Jesus would be just the god of televangelists and their local copycats who preach a gospel of good cheer, success, and prosperity. I thank God for Filipinos who were brought up in a religious tradition that considers life as a mixture of sorrow and joy, cross and crown, suffering and glory.