The
CAGAYANLifestyle TIMES Weekly de Oro
Volume 4 | No. 37 | Cagayan de Oro City | April 21-23, 2017
Ang Pasyon ni Hesukristo By Shenzen P Golez
“Taong aking nilikha, gumising! Ikaw ay tinubos upang palayain. Tignan mo kung gaano kamahal ang pagtubos ko sa iyo.” Ang Pasyon
ni Hesukristo (APNH), written by Linda O. Manalo, PhD, is a heartfelt narration of Jesus Christ’s Paschal Mystery. It retells the
story of His passion, death, and resurrection as written in the scriptures. In line with the Season of Lent, The Xavier Stage (TXS), directed by Bart Savior, presented APNH last April 11 to 13 at the XU Little Theater. Despite the fact this has been the fourth year TXS has mounted this play as their Lenten production, it still remains their most poignant reflection of the authentic truth. To this day, Ang Pasyon ni Hesukristo has always been recognized as the company’s most essential production, as it retells the story of the unimaginable spans and horrid struggles the Son of God willingly endured out of the depth of His love for mankind. What sets APNH apart from all the rest is that many, if not all of its audiences, already know how this narrative unfolds. The series of events that progress along the way have already been generally accepted by many, especially in Catholic
countries like the Philippines. In addition, it is an ensemble most grounded on reality for it is not based on fantasy or imagination but on the epic, actual, self-giving love of God. This is an expression of factual events that happened to real people many centuries past, unlike most productions which are crafted out of a sole playwright’s artistry. However these do not make APNH any less of a quality play. If anything, these accentuate its timeless message, explaining why numerous people still choose to watch it. Hearing this story in masses and reading it from the Bible are very different experiences from seeing it portrayed before your very eyes. By turning this heartwrenching narrative into a stage play, theatre has then become a mean of putting life into an already soulful scripture. It is through this process that artistic images are used to form the magnanimity of God’s
very image. It is directed towards moving faithfuls into feeling holistic, communal love in their hearts; what better way to hammer humanity through the arts than by showing the passion of
the person who restored and saved it altogether. With this being said, Ang Pasyon ni Hesukristo has hit home to the hearts of many Christians as it depicts pasyon/PAGE 11
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