Ash Wednesday

An excerpt from last March 6, 2019 Ash Wednesday’s homily by Most Rev. Romulo G. Valles, D.D. at San Pedro Cathedral.

Lent begins today, Ash Wednesday, up to Holy Thursday daytime (only). Ang misa sa Huwebes Santo sa gabii dili na na lent. Lent begins today and up to the hours before sa misa sa hugas sa tiil sa mga apostoles. When that mass begins on Holy Thursday that is not anymore lent, mao na na ang giandaman sa lent – special three days (Easter triduum): passion, death and resurrection of the Lord. Lent will pass six Sundays (including the Palm Sunday on the sixth). More or less 40 days – kuwaresma, kuwarenta, kuwatro… Asa man gikan ning kuwatro, kuwarenta? Kining beautiful tradition sa Church that developed many many years ago, to prepare lagi ourselves, to celebrate, to enter into an annual celebration of passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. Asa nagsugod ning kwarenta, kuwaresma?

Ah 40 years in the desert. Kabantay mo? Bible history. 40 years in trial but some remained faithful, God’s people, and they reached the promise land. But in the gospel also, we have 40 days in wilderness of Jesus. 40 years, 40 days. And so when the prayer life of the church developed, nahimong batasan, 40 days to prepare ourselves for the celebration of the great mystery of God’s love to us, giving His Son to suffer, to die on the cross, and to show His power in His resurrection. But lent begins with Ash Wednesday – imposition of ashes.

Let us go to the opening prayer. The opening prayer says, “Grant Oh Lord, that we may begin with holy fasting (only one full meal) this campaign of Christian service so that we may take up battle (naa tay kontra) against (against who?) spiritual evils, we may be armed (battle man naa tay armas) by weapons of self-restraint.” Short prayer but very, very wise. So in this season of lent, gi-renew once again, we understand that this journey, like 40 years in the desert is in fact a spiritual battle and the only way we can win this spiritual battle is to be armed with self-restraint — fasting — so that we can serve others, forget ourselves. How do we forget ourselves? Remember you are abog. Wala kang kwenta, if you are self-centered. Let’s say markahan kag abo, ayaw palabig bilib sa sarili bay. Abog lang ka. Bisan unsa pa ka kagwapo ug gwapa wala lang ka, abog lang ka. And remember you will return to dust. Self-restraint. Ayaw palabig bilib sa sarili. Ayaw pasobrahe. And that’s why in the oldest days naa silay practice during the time of Jesus. Naa na silay mga externals — alms giving, you forget yourself, give to others; fasting, self-restraint, dili mukaon so that you can think of others; and prayer, so that, nakalimot ka sa sarili, naa pay Somebody greater than you. Pray. So we can remember that we are only creatures. We pray to God because we are only creations of God. From abo, it’s God who breathed life on us. So we pray to our Creator. That can become external. Mao na ang problema ni Jesus. Iyang giingon ayaw palabig pakita. Kay nahimo man ang external mauna bisan walay internal. “Basta nakit-an lang ko na nag-alms giving.” Ingon ni Jesus na dili na mahimo. Bahalag wala ka makit-i. Do not even allow your left hand to know what your right hand is doing — giving alms. Do it interiorly. Do it with the best, the authentic motivation to help others, makit-an o wala, ma-TV o wala, mareport o wala. Pray. Kung mahimo go to your room. Ayaw pa-display kung mag-pray ka. The sense is not to do not go to church na lang, go to your room. But the point is make your prayer really really interior, may makakita o wala, display is another one. But first of all bring your heart to your Creator. And fasting. Again, self-restraint. Kay ang kaon di kapugngan. Those who are dieting kabalo gyud mo. Ako gud pag-uli, I was many days didto sa gawas. Gimingaw kog kan-on kay panagsa ra ang kan-on sa akong gipuy-an. Pag-abot diri, kalami gyud (ikaon kan-on), di kapugong. But best point of discipline, we forget ourselves. Fast kita so we have the custom to forget ourselves and be able to think of others. 40 years in the desert. 40 days ni Jesus in the wilderness. In the desert or in the wilderness sa difficulty in prayer and fasting we come to know ourselves. That’s another way of looking the purpose of lent that we are sons and daughters of God. That we have become sons and daughters of God because of baptism. That’s another way of looking at kuwaresma. Beginning with, “ah abog lang ka bay.” Remember abog lang ka. To dust you will return. Pero dili na ka abog. You have been baptized, cleansed in baptism, and therefore lent is a time — pakireview ang imong identity, ang imong record isip baptized. Basig delisted ka na. Ang imong nawong wala na sa listahan. Kay dugay na ka wala kabalik sa Ginoo. That’s why ang kanta, “Return to me.” Return to your real identity, to be god-like, to be able to be for others. Before we start the rite of imposition of ashes, I’ll give you a story that I got from Cardinal Tagle to show unsa man ning mga externals — mga ashes, fasting, alms giving, prayer — to apply it into ourselves, to become ready to celebrate the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus, to be like Jesus, to be His disciples. So the story goes this way, because he is the president of Caritas in the national, meaning the social action arm of the church — hain ang gutom, hain ang mga floods, si Cardinal Tagle ang president. I forgot where was he in Greece because kato bitawng mga boat people nanagan sila. So he was in a camp of people from the shore, nag-march sila without belongings, only children. And when they were arriving in the camp, he saw a father nagbaba sa iyang anak, and father was klaro kaayo nga gikapoy na kay nag-march sila for many miles. Ang anak pud nga nagbaba, na-notice niya nga hayahay kaayo, nakatulog ang anak. Ang papa pud kapoy na kaayo. When they entered the camp, naglingkod na, ang papa katulogon na kaayo. Ang bata kay nakapahulay man samtang gibaba, active na ang bata. So na-notice nga katulogon kaayo ang papa. Ang bata mag sigeg dula-dula sa iyang papa ba. Pero ang papa mu-smile lang unya matulog na pud. But the father never got angry. Wa siya miingog ayaw samok dira. Nalooy si Cardinal Tagle nakakita kay ang papa intawon naningkamot nga mu-smile sa anak unya tulog na pud sya. Ang bata nagsige lang og dula-dula. But Cardinal Tagle said that the father unta is the picture of us. Literally forgetting himself for the child. Katulogon siya and rightly so he could have ignored the child, sleep siya. But the father, very concrete expression of how the papa loves the child. Ningkamot tawon sya, forgetting one’s self.

Dear brothers and sisters, during lent we are asked to do this beautiful nga mga ceremonies, mga customary, via crusis, ash Wednesday. But all of these are supposed to touch our hearts. So that at one point nagsacrifice na ta, nagpas-an sa uban, helping others, gikapoy ta. And then it is time for us to rest, magsamok-samok pa atong gitabangan. Still we can smile. Very difficult. But that is the way of the cross. That is why we are marked to be God’s children because we are supposed to behave that way, on our own, my dear brothers and sisters. Kung kita pasagdan, lisud. Kung ako, pagsulti ni Cardinal Tagle, makaingon ko’g samok kang bataa ka didto ka sa imong mama kay matulog sa ko. But that is ordinary and normal. But when he saw the father, struggling intawon to, pero mudula-dula gihapon sa bata. He saw a good example of how we should be to one another. And the season of lent is the time that would revive us, review our ways of doing things so that we become really Christ-like and we become true to the dignity of being baptized as God’s children.