Purge negative emotions, UST Rector urges Thomasians on Ash Wednesday

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Photo by Alvin Joseph Kasiban

ASH WEDNESDAY is a reminder of our mortality and belonging to the Lord.

This was the message of UST Rector Fr. Herminio Dagohoy, O.P. as he opened the Lenten season in the University with a concelebrated Mass earlier at Plaza Mayor.

“Ash Wednesday is not a just a day that reminds us of our mortality. After all we are human beings. It is also a day when we reveal our belongingness, and that is the reason we are smeared with ashes,” Dagohoy said in his homily.

Dagohoy described Lent as a reminder to the people that they belong to God.

“Ash Wednesday reminds us that though our bodies are vessels of clay, these bodies are also vessels of grace. Through the sign of the cross on our foreheads, we say to world that we belong to God,” he said.

Dagohoy encouraged Thomasians to purge themselves of negative emotions.

“Give up despair and take up hope. Give up indifference and take up love. ‘Wag ninyong hayaang dumating ang Easter nang wala kayong dala-dala,” he said.

Suffering with Jesus

In his homily during Ash Wednesday Mass at the Arzobispado de Manila Chapel in Intramuros, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle described Lenten season as sharing in the suffering of Jesus Christ.

“Apatnapung araw ang ibinibigay sa atin upang tayo ay makapaghanda na sumabay kay Hesus, maglakbay patungo sa kanyang kamatayan dala ng pag-ibig sa atin,” Tagle said.

“Sa apatnapung araw ng Kuwaresma, tayo ay inaanyayahan na alalahanin si Hesus na hindi nang-iwan sa atin, upang tayo ay huwag ding mang-iwan sa kanya,” he said.

He called on the faithful to devote themselves in prayer, listening and reading the Holy Scriptures during the 40-day preparation for Holy Week.

“Sana po sa apatnapung araw na ito ng Kuwaresma, maging marubdob ang ating pakikinig, pagbabasa, pagdarasal ng Salita ng Diyos,” Tagle said.

Ash Wednesday opens the Lenten season during which Christians are called to prayer, fasting and alms-giving in preparation for Holy Week.

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