FeaturesReflectionPut Ash Wednesday first

Put Ash Wednesday first

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With so many questions circulating on whether to spend Valentine’s Day during the observance of Ash Wednesday this year, the bishop of the Diocese of Dumaguete stressed that Ash Wednesday is a priority.

As far as the Church is concerned, there is no question about which one would precede the other in this “confluence of events”, said Dumaguete Bishop Julito Cortes.

“This is something very unique and probably not prepared for, and the last time we heard of this confluence of these two events was in 1945,” he pointed out.

“However, in the Church, we are very clear that we need to continue with the spirit of Lent. The spirit of the Lenten journey (is) one of prayer, fasting, sacrifice, penance, and alms-giving,” Cortes stressed.

And for those who are celebrating Valentine’s Day, the prelate suggests that perhaps this can be “incorporated in the idea of love” and that lovers can think of creative ways to celebrate it meaningfully, “perhaps even more meaningfully than mere wining and dining and romantic dates.”

When speaking of Valentine’s, what usually comes to mind as a symbol for love is the heart symbol, but the best symbol for love is Jesus Christ on the cross, Bishop Cortes said.

“The measure of love, really, is our Lord, Jesus Christ on the cross because that is a love that is willing to sacrifice everything for the sake of the beloved, so he has become the standard, the measure of genuine love,” he added.

The prelate said he hopes that lovers can ponder this as they celebrate Valentine’s Day.

According to Bishop Cortes, Ash Wednesday, on the other hand, is an opportunity for people to strengthen their relationship with “God, who is love, so that sharing in his love, we can be instruments of his love for others.”

Although there is no official recommendation here on how to reconcile the overlapping traditions, the Dumaguete prelate stands firm that Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, are the two most important days of the Catholic Church where fasting and abstinence are strictly observed.

Ash Wednesday is the start of the 40 days of religious observances of Lent, Cortes explained.

Cinder or ash crosses are marked on the foreheads of the people on this day, as a reminder that people are not just “earthly”, but “we have souls, we belong to God, and so our existence should not only be earthly but as St. Paul says, we should set our eyes on heaven,” he said.

Also, as the priest marks the forehead of a person with ashes, he says to him or her to repent and stay away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel, and so therefore, “Lent is a period of conversion, repentance, and renewal and recommitment to the Lord”, Bishop Cortes stressed.

Earlier on Tuesday evening, during a mass in celebration of the first anniversary of the Diocese’s Kahupayan Center for Counseling, the Bishop issued his reaction to an article in the New York Times that said: “The confluence of the events… occurring for the first time since 1945, has created a dilemma for Roman Catholics and followers of other Christian denominations who observe Ash Wednesday. How can one simultaneously mark a solemn day when foreheads are tapped with a symbol of mortality as a call to humility and repentance, while celebrating one that glorifies the kisses and champagne of romantic love?”

Bishop Cortes said that for the Catholic Church, “There is no confusion. There is no compromise. Our primary duties in this sacred time – prayer, fasting, abstinence, penance, sacrifices, and alms-giving, are in place.” (Judy Flores Partlow/PNA)

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