As Holy Week unfolds across the Philippines, churches fill with quiet prayers, processions wind through towns, and the story of Christ’s Passion and death is once again retold.

For many Filipino families, this sacred season is a time of deep reflection — a moment to confront human suffering, to understand the depth of Christ’s sacrifice, and to renew hope in the promise of redemption.

But this year, the passion story is mirrored, all too painfully, in the lives of countless Filipinos. A recent survey has shown that hunger has gripped more than a quarter of Filipino homes, with rates of total hunger surging sharply among the self-rated poor.

Between February and March, the hunger rate among the poorest households climbed from 26.7 percent to a distressing 35.6 percent — an alarming reminder that suffering is not confined to ancient Scripture, but is alive and present in the streets, communities, and kitchens of our nation.

In the biblical narrative, Jesus Christ endured betrayal, torture, and ultimately death on the cross. His was a journey marked by abandonment and physical agony, a trial meant not only to fulfill divine prophecy but to highlight the depths of human cruelty and the resilience of mercy and compassion. Filipinos have long embraced this story, finding in it a mirror of their own hardships, and a source of hope through faith.

But faith, however strong, does not fill an empty stomach.

The survey’s results bring this contrast into sharp focus. How many Filipino families today feel abandoned, just as Christ did on the cross when He cried, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?”

How many parents skip meals so their children can eat? How many wage earners toil endlessly, only to return home with barely enough for a day’s food?

It is easy to spiritualize Holy Week and lose sight of the world’s material struggles. The cross is more than a symbol of divine sacrifice; it is also a symbol of the suffering born out of injustice, inequality, and human indifference.

This Holy Week, Christ’s Passion is not just an event retold in church homilies, but an ongoing reality for millions of Filipinos living with gnawing hunger.

In the same way that Christ’s death was not the end of the story, the crisis of hunger must not be allowed to define the future of this nation. The resurrection offers a promise of hope and renewal, and it demands action from those who can ease the burden of the suffering.

Compassion is central to Christianity, but it should not stop at prayers and rituals. True faith requires translating reflection into action — from policy reforms, to community support, to simple acts of generosity and kindness.

As Filipinos contemplate the Stations of the Cross this week, it is worth remembering that Christ identified Himself with the poor, the hungry, and the forsaken. “Whatever you do for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you do for me,” He taught. In a season that calls us to reflect on sacrifice, perhaps the truest devotion is not only in commemorating Christ’s suffering but also in easing the suffering of others.

This Holy Week, the passion of Christ should not only inspire piety, but also awaken the nation’s conscience to the silent crucifixion happening in many Filipino homes — the slow agony of hunger that no one deserves to endure.