Happy Good Friday: Time for a A New Synodal Nomenclature?

#chhotebhai

Every time Good Friday comes, some dear soul invariably calls or messages a “Happy Good Friday”! 2024 was no exception. It puts me in a quandary. How do I acknowledge the greeting without offending the sensibilities of the sender or caller?

It was equally odd when people in church gushingly started wishing each other a “Happy Easter”. I have never been comfortable with this greeting either. The word “happy” is bandied around in the same way as for a birthday or anniversary that is supposed to be a joyous occasion.

Happy Christmas is not so bad because hatches (births) are usually happy. As Rabindra Nath Tagore said “Every child that is born is a sign of hope”. Matches (marriages) could have mixed feelings because of the uncertainty about their stability, more so today. Despatches (funerals) obviously don’t fall in the happy category!

Good Friday and Easter are so steeped in meaning that the term “happy” is either frivolous or incorrect. At Easter I usually respond to a happy greeting by saying “The Lord is Risen, Alleluia”. In Hindi I simply say “Paska Mubarak”. Ironically, I find that more and more Hindi speaking people have switched to the happy greeting.

In my Resurrection video for our YouTube channel Views of Indian Christians Expressed (V.O.I.C.E.), an initiative of the Indian Catholic Forum, I had proposed that the names of these days be changed to Servant Thursday, Blessed Friday and Resurrection Sunday. Some viewers found the proposal appealing, asking me to send it to the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) and other community leaders. Hence this article or open letter.

I believe that a name should be meaningful and self-expressive. I differ from the Shakespearean viewpoint that a rose by any other name would smell sweet. Today, manufacturers of consumer products are very careful in choosing the names of their products and branding. They look for good recall value. The name should resonate with the target group and help identify with the product.

For example, Itchguard is a self-explanatory name for an anti-fungal cream. “Fair & Lovely,” though objectionable, was again self-expressive. Nutrichoice is a good name for a biscuit. But do we know what is Mephenesin Methyl Nicotinate and Capsicum Oleoresin, manufactured by Franco Indian Pharmaceuticals? If I now tell you that it is Relaxyl, a muscle relaxant, recognition will dawn immediately. So it is in the fitness of things to have the correct nomenclature.

At the other end of the spectrum are names that may have been a hit in their countries of origin, but not in India. Shaw Wallace had come out with a bath soap called Sundance. It had to be withdrawn because it sounded too much like the colloquial sandas (latrine). Skoda had a model called Laura, a derogatory term in Hindi. So names should be both appropriate and meaningful.

I myself changed my name about 50 years ago when I recognized the Lord. Across the north, where I live, people, regardless of caste or creed, feel completely at ease with my assumed name. Several priests and religious also change their names to make them compatible with their mission. Hence, there is everything to be gained by a meaningful change of name.

I am reasonably certain that even most Christians don’t know the origin or meaning of the words Maundy or Easter. So let’s dig a little deeper.

The word Maundy probably originates from the Latin word “mandatum” that means commandment or mandate. That day’s mandate was to love one another, as signified in the washing of the feet. The image of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples resonates much more powerfully in our country, where the guru is pedestallised; than the breaking of the bread, which was rich in significance in the Jewish tradition, but irrelevant here. Hence, I have proposed the name “Servant Thursday”. This is not the same as “service”, because even Ambani and Adani provide us with ‘services” like electricity and telecom. That does not mean servant leadership. To the contrary they are our masters whose mandate has to be followed.

Good Friday, as a name, is a total disaster. Explaining it to non-believers is an uphill task. Some prefer to call it Holy Friday. A better name would be Blessed Friday as it is the culmination of Christian faith and the messianic prophecies. Since it is a public/ restricted holiday throughout the country it finds expression in diaries and calendars. It is therefore proposed that the CBCI pass a resolution requesting the government to make the change. It may not happen overnight but the process should be initiated. In the interim what is stopping us from making the changes in our own circles?

Easter is another dubious word, like Maundy. It is of uncertain origin because the original word was the Pasch. One school of thought attributes it to the German word Ostern. Another school believes that it is an 8^th century corruption of Eostre or Eostrae, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring and fertility. Is that why we have easter rabbits, an animal known to breed profusely? If this is what easter stands for I would rather eschew the word.

In Latin and Greek it is still called Pascha; in French it is Paques. So what stops us from choosing our own name for this day that is the climax of Christian belief and worship? It is for this reason that I have proposed the name Resurrection Sunday, as it is self-expressive and full of meaning.

Besides submitting this article for publication it is also being sent as a humble suggestion to the Office Bearers of the CBCI and the Apostolic Nunciature in India for their kind consideration and appropriate action. Their email ids are given below. Those who support the proposal are requested to write to them with a copy marked to me at [email protected] for my follow up and record.

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The writer is the Convenor of the Indian Catholic Forum