Ash Wednesday starts Lenten season

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

AS THE Lenten Season starts today, Ash Wednesday, the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro is urging the public to link up a period of prayer and penance for all abuses in the environment.

Cagayan de Oro Archbishop Antonio Ledesma SJ, DD said the people have to be more ecologically conscious for the common good of the communities.

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Archbishop Ledesma said the people should also undergo fasting and be ready to sacrifice for the good of other people.

In a pastoral letter released earlier, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle called the faithful to fast during the Lenten Season and help the Catholic Church feed thousands of malnourished children in the country.

“Ash Wednesday ushers in the Season of Lent. As we welcome this season of renewal, let us be united with all of God’s people, for we all share the need for continued conversion as we move away from sin and move toward Christ. We are called upon to support each other in solidarity by praying, fasting and giving alms to the poor as we undertake our conversion journey in preparation for Easter,” Archbishop Tagle said in this pastoral letter for Ash Wednesday.

He reminded the Catholic to attend church services today, Wednesday, and have ashes put on their foreheads “not only for the traditional compliance but out of sincere contrition for our sins and out of our desire to humbly submit to God.”

“The Father is waiting for us to return to Him. Let us not harden our hearts. Let us be open to humility and repentance,” Archbishop Tagle added.

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Season of Lent. It is a season of penance, reflection and fasting, which prepares the people for Christ's Resurrection on Easter Sunday.

It commemorates the 40 days of Jesus Christ’s fasting in the wilderness “where he triumphed over the luring temptations of the devil.”

Lent includes Holy Week, the last days of which are holidays in mostly Catholic Philippines.

From Ash Wednesday, the Catholics count about six-and-a-half weeks before Easter Sunday, the central feast of Christendom that celebrates Christ’s resurrection. (Michael Andrew W. Yu)