The Good Friday Resurrection of Jesus Christ Play

All of my life since I was little I always was involved in the Roman Catholic Church Communities and events. In the spring of 1984, I was walking by a church in my neighborhood on Park Slope Brooklyn, NY right on 4th Ave and 14th Street, I met a girl named Elizabeth Perez She was very young and attractive. This young woman took me inside a church called Holy Family Parish and introduced me to a lot of teenagers and seniors in that youth groups. I was no more than 20 years old. In that church I met new people and friends, because most of my old friends back in high school died from drugs. Some were murdered, and many had gone to jail. I felt at home in that church called Holy Family. Many activities and trips were planned, especially in the summertime. Every week I was introduced to new people. We went upstate to a place called Haverstraw.

All the youth groups from Holy Family went there every summer. There were a lot of statues of Christ and the Virgin Mary and angels all over the place. There were even basketball and handball courts there, a huge swimming pool and a picnic area! It was so wonderful that I even brought a few of my family members up there. Two years later, on my 22nd birthday, I made my first Catholic retreat through the Holy Family Parish. Roman Catholics know that during a retreat a specific individual goes out to a private, holy place and then turns his or her body, soul and mind to the Lord for three days.

That is what you call a retreat. Since the Catholic retreat landed on my birthday, the young people in the church groups bought me a cake. My family and friends came to my holy retreat celebration and Elizabeth Perez was also present there. It wasn't a bad experience for me, because all through those years that I spent with them in the community at the church, it kind of kept me away from the streets and trouble.

On good Friday we all got involved with the play about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. A lot of us had different parts in the play. The whole group movement and the priests started the play from inside the church. Then we all marched outside, and whoever was playing the part of Jesus had to carry the cross around the whole block and back to the church. But the wooden cross wasn't heavy. Our group performed its last production of the play outside, then finished the rest of the play of Christ inside of Holy Family Church.

Each year different kids from the groups played Jesus, and many played soldiers. My family members have always been good people, because the Reyes truly believe in the Roman Catholic religion. I believe through faith we can change the world if people will only listen and get together as a community and family and fight for what we believe. Life is to precious to let human rights go to waste.