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Sun-Star Cebu  "Redefining holiness" UP until now fasting and abstinence have been the faithful’s favored penitential practices on Holy Week. An esoteric few continue to engage in self-flagellation and  nailing oneself to a cross. The idea is to suffer with Christ by reining in a person’s over-the-top attachment to worldly pleasures with acts of painful self-denial  and mortification.  Sin, in this view, is conceived as synonymous with giving in to the natural propensities of the flesh, man’s profane part where the soul or spirit is the sacred  part. Hence, we punish the flesh to keep it from seriously tempting our spirit with sinful pleasures. We mortify the body to strengthen our spirit against  temptations of the flesh. This betrays an introverted and self-centered concept of holiness.  [full text] Manila Bulletin  "Our agony and shame" As Maundy Thursday and Good Friday come, I realize that the greatest story of more than 2,000 years ago...