A Terrible Week

I got the title of my blog from The Feast Worship leader Carl Fontanilla yesterday, Easter Sunday, to describe the Holy Week and somehow I also felt the same way last week. Let me give you, dear readers, a rundown on what happened on my Holy Week.

Day 1: Holy Monday was just like the past six Fridays of Lent that I did my fast. It went okay and I was able to do the juice fast.

Day 2: Holy Tuesday was when the pangs of hunger stroke but since I made a commitment to do the juice fast for the Holy Week, I just prayed a little and grabbed the Bible when I felt hungry and I was okay again. It wasn't that easy however. My veggie juice was running out and I asked my mom to buy me an orange juice but she bought a grapefruit juice. I thought it was okay but when I tasted it, it tasted bad. I wasn't able to drink it. Food was another thing. The look and smell of a sardines or a Lucky Me pancit canton felt like it was the most delicious food in the world. Bit I managed to stay away from it and Day 2 of fasting was again successful by drinking water and pineapple juice I bought from the other store a stone's throw away from our own store.

Day 3: Holy Wednesday was the start of the downfall. I went to the graduation of my inaanak, Wayne. It was so hot in the afternoon that I was almost tempted to take the halo-halo that my kumpare was offering me. After the graduation rites, I felt that I was going to have a fever. True enough, I had a fever in the evening and I couldn't sleep as well. Add to that fact is that I am hungry and I couldn't take a medicine because of that. But sine I was a man with a deep spiritual mission (or so I thought), I managed to get by with water and more pineapple juice.

Day 4: Miraculously, I got healed the next day, Maundy Thursday. How? Just keep reading. I really didn't know the juice fast that I was doing for a week was that hard. I meant I knew it would be hard but I didn't anticipate it to be this hard. Again, when hunger stroke, I just grab the Bible or read the Kerygma magazines that I borrowed from my friend. I also watched the 7th Heaven marathon in Studio 23. And when I couldn't take the hunger anymore, I slept.

Day 5: Good Friday came and I said to myself, just two days left and I'm done with my fasting. I immensed myself with more reading from the Bible and the Keryma magazine, had a little soul-searching and watched more 7th Heaven. In the evening however, when I couldn't take the hunger, I couldn't sleep anymore. I was feeling nauseated, my mouth was so dry, my stomach was grumbling, my muscles are aching, and I almost throwed up five times. Yes, not just once but five times. I wanted to vomit but nothing will come out because the only thing my stomach has inside was water and pineapple juice. Day 5 of my fasting was successful in spite of that.

Day 6: It was the last day of my fasting and I thought to myself, "Finally, my fasting would be over and I am triumphant!"

Triumphant, I am not. I went to NCO in ABS-CBN to get my Certificate Of Emplyment but since there were some wrong information in my COE, Cathy, one of the nice HR staff in NCO aske me to come back after five minutes to correct the information in my COE. I went to Mini-Stop to buy something to drink. I searched the freezer for a juice that is 100% natural fruit juice but no sugar. A pineapple juice was available but I didn't want to drink more pineapple juice because I might throw up for real this time and I'm not at home. A mineral water was also out of the question because I wanted a drink that would leave a good taste in my mouth.

To make a long story short, I drank a soda, a Diet 7-Up to be exact. I don't know what I was thinking. I was looking for a drink with no sugar. Diet 7-Up has no sugar but it has acids in the ingredients. I was really thirsty and instead of drinking a bitter wine like Jesus did, I drank a sweet wine in the form of Diet 7-Up and it eased my thirst. So much for my juice fast. I still managed to finish a "liquid fast"  (it was no longer juice fast because of the soda I drank in the morning).

Even if I managed to finish a liquid fast for six days, for me it was still a failure because it was not what I intended to do. What I promised the Lord was that I would do a juice fast. No liquid food and just 100% pure and natural fruit or vegetable juice and no soft drinks.

Black Saturday of March 22, 2008 was the blackest Black Saturday of my life. Why? Because that day shows the kind of character I have. I always give in or give up in the last minute. Just one more day, or make it just a few more hours of fasting, and I didn't last. I pitied myself so much. Somehow, the statement on the shirt of my brother that I wore one time rings true for myself. It said, "I tried and failed. Pity me!"

But was it really a terrible week? As in a terrible Holy Week? I dug deeper later in the evening of Black Saturday and I found out on Easter Sunday that it was not that terrible.

Find out why on my next blog entry.