Salubong

CULTURAL NOTES 

Richard Kinnud

There was one jog I had to a rural town when upon reaching a ridge, I was enamored by the sight of a very big cross.  I followed a trail going towards it, assuming it could be a church compound or could be the site of the usual Holy Week activities of the place. 
    As I got nearer, I saw that the cross was on a grassy, bushy area.  At about a hundred meter from it, I immediately paid attention at readying my phone to take a picture finding a good angle of the cross against the clear blue sky and the greenery at the foreground.  Then as the screen of the phone cam I was using got clearer, I noticed small crosses and blocks of concrete arranged at the bottom of the big cross.  
    And even where I stepped, there were crosses peeking through the overgrown bushes. I realized that I was within a cemetery compound. On impulse, I ran as fast as I could.  There is no turning back to where I came from knowing I had gone too far. 
    The trail I was following traversed through the cemetery and I ran faster when I noticed newly dug soil adorned with anthuriums.  It was as if hands can just pop out anytime from the ground and grab my feet.  I was not ready to see any human-like shape neither to meet any one at that time.  I was relieved when I already got to a road and there was a vehicle passing by.  Ghosts that grab people do not drive.  Or do they?
    This experience, once again came to mind as Easter comes.  Easter is about the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the cornerstone of Christianity, the religion most of us in this corner of the world has embraced.  Easter is a time to be glad, so it is preached, and to reflect as well.
    There are traditions that should guide us into it.  One of these traditions is Salubong, particularly in the Catholic Church in some places to include La Trinidad where we now live.  It is a reenactment, before the sun rises, of the meeting of the Resurrected Jesus and His mother, Mary. The Bible does not explicitly describe this scenario but theological explanations do support it.  Surely, many who does not believe in non-Biblical ideas would have something contrary to say. But scholars argued that there was already an empty tomb when Mary of Magdala came to see it while it was still dark.  It means the Resurrected Jesus must be somewhere. A logical thought is that He went to meet His mother Mary who had been with her up to the foot of the cross.
    It was not, however, those theological/scholarly explanations that rang the mind on my experience of the jog at a cemetery but the gist of a homily I heard from many years ago in a mass after a Salubong here in La Trinidad. 
The homilist shared that the word itself “salubong” which means in English meeting should keep us aware of our own final meeting with the Risen Christ.   “Are you ready to meet the Risen Christ?” was the question posed.
    Sometime ago, while having coffee with my wife, I asked her that question. It took her some time to answer. Then finally she said in half-jest, “Kanin! Kanin!” applying the little Ibaloi that she knows. It meant “Later! Later!” I think many of us would answer similarly.  A lot wanted to go to heaven but no one wanted to go first, so it is said, for death is a prerequisite.
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Incidentally, as the Holy Week ushered in, we in the family received the information from hometown that my wife’s grandmother died.  The Holy Week becomes a time to travel home.  Two of our youngster sons who had some pre-planned activities for these no-classes days thought of not coming with us.

For most of us in the Cordilleras, vigils for our dead loved ones are sort of a mandatory.  So with the presence of closest kin especially ascendants and descendants.  Aside from paying last respects, it is also a time to meet relatives more than ever those whom one have not seen for some long time. 

In Ifugao, the practice of transferring the wake from a kin’s home to another, when relatives desire so, is still very much alive.  Thus, the wakes also become an opportunity to visit relatives’ homes.  Citing these, we were able to convince our boys to come with us. 

Apu Madlaeng, my wife’s grandma on her maternal side, is survived by seven children, all married, and forty-one grandchildren. 

She had two more grandchildren that has gone ahead of her.  Of the forty-one, nineteen got married giving her thirty-seven great grandchildren.  Of the thirty-seven, seven got married which had her eleven great great grandchildren.   
    The numbers would speak much of her age which is officially counted at eighty-nine though it might be higher as some would claim, the discrepancy ascribed to the instance that civil registration was not given significance in her time.  The numbers will surely also matter in the length of her wake.
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As this piece hits the newsstand this Sunday, all Salubong are already winded up. We are certain not to be attending any Salubong this year as we are still in our hometown.  I am not sure if the local Catholic church there has adopted the tradition.  I do not remember attending one in my growing up years there. 

I can only remember attending one Sunrise Service in another Christian denomination.  It has a similar construct which is meeting the Risen Christ, with the sunrise as a metaphor.  I am sure this still being practiced but probably will not be able attend one. 

Salubong, this year, for us will surely be in other ways.  That is encounter with kins and others we will meet at home.  One church sermon I heard on this tradition is how well do wee meet the Risen Christ in our day-to-day walks.

Happy Easter to all!