BLESSED ASHES Ashes from burned palm leaves are checked by Fr. Felix Legazpi of Sto. Domingo Church in Quezon City before they are used to mark the foreheads of devotees at today’s observance of Ash Wednesday. JOAN BONDOC
“EVERYTHING is transitory. Everything will die.”
With these words, the president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas, shared his thoughts about Ash Wednesday.
Millions of Roman Catholics will flock to churches today (Wednesday) to have their foreheads marked with ashes, reminding them that life on earth is ephemeral.
As Ash Wednesday, the start of the 40-day Lenten season, comes a day after the beginning of the campaign period for the May presidential election, Villegas also reminded candidates not to engage in violence and corruption just to win.
“What will it profit a candidate if he wins the votes but suffer the loss of his soul because of violence and corruption in the polls?” Villegas said in a text message to the Inquirer.
Good works
On Ash Wednesday, Catholics are urged to do good works, fast and pray, and have their foreheads marked with a cross by a priest or lay minister as a reminder that every person is only dust.
“With that dirt on your forehead, you declare to everybody that you are no different from the others who need to be converted,” Fr. Genaro Diwa, executive secretary of the CBCP Episcopal Commission on Liturgy, said in an interview.
“The ashes (from burned palm fronds) of last year’s Palm Sunday symbolize the desire of Christians to follow Christ,” Diwa said, adding the faithful should also fast and abstain.
Fasting means skipping at least one full meal a day while abstinence means abstaining from eating meat. Diwa said the faithful should not just avoid eating meat but also abstain from earthly desires.
Malnourished kids
For his part, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle urged Catholics to support a Church-based feeding program for malnourished children.
The “Fast2Feed” campaign asks people to fast and donate money to the Hapag-Asa program of the Archdiocese of Manila and its dioceses.
In a pastoral letter, Tagle asked the faithful to feed hungry children as their act of charity in this so-called Jubilee of Mercy.
“It only takes P1,200 or P10 a day to bring back a malnourished child to a healthy state in six months,” the prelate said.
“Let us make a difference in their lives by fasting and donating whatever we save to Hapag-Asa,” he said.
The program provides not only supplemental feeding but also early childhood education and livelihood and skills training for parents.
Last year, donations allowed more than 21,000 malnourished children in Manila’s dioceses to have nutritious meals every day for six months.
Tagle said the program’s goal this year was to feed 25,000 children. Donations can be made through Fast2Feed envelopes in various parishes.
The first of two pilgrimage seasons in the Year of Mercy in the Archdiocese of Manila begins today. Pope Francis has urged everyone to make a pilgrimage.
List of pilgrims
Tagle has listed the following parishes and shrines as jubilee churches—Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (Manila Cathedral), Santuario de Santo Cristo Parish in San Juan City, Archdiocesan Shrine of the Sacred Heart in Mandaluyong City, National Shrine of the Sacred Heart in Makati City and Our Lady of Sorrows Parish in Pasay City.
Pilgrims over 15 years old will be issued a “pilgrim’s passport” bearing the pilgrim’s name and provides a guide on what to do in each church. Each name is entered on a master list of pilgrims.
The pilgrim who completes five pilgrimages to five jubilee churches is given a certificate at the last church.
The pilgrims are also requested to give a donation for a particular work of mercy. The donations will be used to support social service programs.
The second pilgrimage season in the Manila archdiocese will be from Sept. 1 to Nov. 13 this year, the closing of the so-called “Jubilee Door.”