Because it’s already the season of Lent, our local parish held it’s annual activity the Visitia Iglesia, a tradition wherein Catholics go to seven different churches and say a prayer for each station of the cross in each of them.  Traditionally it’s done during Maundy Thursdays but about three years ago our old parish priest had this idea to make the Visita Iglesia a parish community activity. 

So every year for the past three years they send out the word and get as many people to sign up.  The parish hires a couple of buses and the whole group spends a whole Saturday out there, visiting some of the oldest churches in Southern Luzon. 

I’ve been on two of these trips; the first year we were scouring Southern Luzon and during the second year we went as far as Bulacan.  It was fun but very tiring.  Unlike my companions (most of whom were the same age as my parents) I wasn’t really in it for the religious experience though; I was there to see the archaic structures.  I’ve always found stone buildings, even the ruinous ones, very beautiful.

I wasn’t able to attend the last two trips because my parents weren’t in the mood to do it anymore and they were already visiting the same churches.  It’s not that much fun for me because I’m still not in it for the religious acts anyway.

Sadly during this year’s Visita Iglesia tragedy struck.   Because they gathered so many people to go this year, the two buses they rented weren’t enough so they hired another van to accommodate the parishioners.  Unfortunately during their trip to the fifth church said van had some type of collision with another bus on the expressway.

Two people died and the rest of the eleven people were confined in a hospital in Lucena, a place that’s at least two hour’s away from our parish.  None of the people from our village were harmed as they were all in one of the buses and for that I am terribly saddened. 

I know that it sounds evil of me to say but if one of the people from our village had gotten injured I know at least they can cope financially, unlike the people who actually got hurt.  Most of those people, I’m told, have day jobs and are the breadwinners of their families.   They literally can’t afford to stay two weeks inside a hospital to recuperate.  And for their relatives to travel all the way from Lucena to San Pedro, Laguna to tend to their sick kin is just plain cruel.

Up until now I’m still wondering why exactly this happened.  I mean they were on their way to a pilgrimage for goodness’ sake.  Shouldn’t that have been a free pass of some sort against any evil?  You may say that it’s a trial and we will overcome it by sticking true to our faith, and I may have bought it had no one died.

But somebody did die.  Two people are now dead because they decided to offer a day of their lives to God. 

Someone explain that to me.