Archbishop Palma urges Catholics to pray

CEBU CITY – As the Catholic Church starts the Lenten season, Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma urged Cebuanos to intensify prayers for the country and the world.

Palma said the difficult challenges resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, the ravages of Typhoon Odette (Rai) and the many uncertainties both in the country and abroad should be “our opportunity to return to God, to acknowledge His Lordship and ask for His mercy and compassion”.

Palma’s message came in the light of the current crisis brought by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine as well as the upcoming local and national elections on May 9.

“My dear brothers and sisters, as we journey through these 40-days of Lent, we intensify our prayer, and we pray not only for ourselves but also for one another, for our country, and for the world,” Palma said. “We offer our sacrifices, our acts of penance and fasting, so that by not having much we can give others something for their needs and return to God, acknowledging our sinfulness and asking for His mercy and forgiveness”.

The prelate said the celebration of the 500th year of the arrival of Christianity on the shores of Cebu, is an opportunity to thank the Lord for making the island the cradle of faith. Palma was referring to the arrival on March 16, 1521 of Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan who reached the archipelago while attempting to sail around the world for the Spanish crown.

“We have been blessed and we are thankful for the gift of Señor Santo Niño, our Lord Jesus Christ who has guided us through the ups and downs of our journey as a people. Now in looking back to the journey that was, we also look forward as we embark on the journey that will be, a journey of reflection, conversion, and spiritual renewal,” he said.

Augustinian friar Fr. Nestor Bandalan said in his homily that the season of Lent is a period of preparation that starts from Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Thursday when the Catholic faithful enter the Paschal Triduum, commemorating the Last Supper of the Lord and the 12 apostles and the crucifixion of Jesus.

The Paschal Triduum or Easter Triduum, Holy Triduum, or the Three Days, is the period of three days that begins with the liturgy on the evening of Maundy Thursday, reaches its high point in the Easter Vigil, and closes with evening prayer on Easter. 

Bandalan said: “What makes this period significant? We say that we always want change in our society. The question is, do we want that change to start within our own heart,” Bandalan said. (John Rey Saavedra)