TEXTING and addiction to social networking sites, such as Friendster, have become a way of life for the “digital generation,” that every day seems unimaginable without them. Foregoing these activities can serve as forms of sacrifice in observance of Lent, a statement issued by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said.
According to Fr. Oscar Alunday of the CBCP Commission on Biblical Apostolate, abstention from texting and visiting social networking sites are as good as refraining from vices at least during the Lenten season.
“Most often we are just spending too much on these things. We’re out of balance,” Alunday said, adding that things that cause disruptions and problems with people’s daily affairs should be given up. He specifically mentioned the youth whom, according to him, are allotting too much of their time to these activities.
Instead, the time and money devoted on these activities could be spent on something more worthwhile like doing charity work, he said.
However, he made it clear that “doing penance is not solely to make someone suffer…it aims to bring about a lasting change in behavior.” Its objective is not to diminish life but to enrich, he added.
Mixed reactions
Alunday’s call earned mixed responses from young people when asked if they could observe this modern-day form of penance during Lent.
“Texting and social networking sites have become an indulgence but some people turn to texting for necessity. Bored people, like me, turn to social networking sites,” said Journalism major Iris Pozon. She said that there is nothing wrong with abstinence since Lent is about sacrifice. “But you can’t force people to sacrifice things they’re not willing to do.”
Niccolo Javier, also a Journalism major, disagrees with virtual fasting.
“Texting is a form of communication, it is like talking. I doubt that I could survive if I were to shut my trap and be without my friends for an entire season,” he said.
New vision
Fr. Lucio Gutierrez, O.P., assistant parish priest of the Santisimo Rosario Parish, said that to abstain from these technological activities would create a new vision as to how to use them well.
“We have become slaves to these things already. It is neither used for service nor education, it is only used for amusement most of the time. This is why there is a call to abstain and moderate the use,” he said.
The nature of Lent is to have a clean heart and a pure mind in preparation for Easter and that during the Lenten season people, are encouraged to repent for their sins with deep sorrow in their hearts, he said.
“If we want to follow the right path, we have to do the will of God. Hobbies are formed through repetitive acts and (we can also develop the habit of saying no to things that do us no good). Otherwise, the Holy Week comes, we cry and fast but nothing changes,” he said. Christine Joyce S. Placino
