Season of Lent Facts

Season of Lent

• Lent is a solemn Christian religious observance that commemorates the 40 days of preparation before Easter.
• The term "Lent" comes from the Old English word "lencten" meaning spring season, and the Latin word "quadragesima" meaning fortieth.
• Lent begins with Ash Wednesday and is a season of penance, reflection, and fasting.

Practices of Lent

• Fasting: giving up something as a form of purification, required for those between 18-60 years old on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.
• Abstinence: abstaining from eating meat, required for those 14 years old and above on Fridays of Lent.
• Almsgiving: cultivating the virtue of sharing by helping the poor and doing acts of charity and mercy.
• Prayer: developing or strengthening a discipline of regular prayer, including daily Mass.

Traditions of Lent

• Ash Wednesday: distribution of ashes with fasting.
• Reconciliation/Confession: forgiving of sins through absolution and penance.
• Palm Sunday: triumphant entry of Jesus in Jerusalem, marking the beginning of Holy Week.
• The Last Supper Mass: Paschal Triduum, Holy Thursday/Maundy Thursday, including the washing of feet as a symbol of servanthood.
• Seven Last Words/Siete Palabras: a radio or television program reflecting on Jesus' seven last words from the Cross.
• Stations of the Cross/Via Crucis: commemorating Jesus' passion and death on the Cross.
• Senakulo/Cenaculo: re-enacting Christ's passion and death.
• Santo Entiero: procession of the dead body of Christ on Holy Saturday.
• Easter Vigil Mass: blessing of fire and water, symbolizing Christ's resurrection and light.

Easter Season

• Lasts for 50 days, beginning on Resurrection Sunday.
• Includes Salubong/Sugat, a celebration after Easter Vigil Mass.

Understanding the Heart of Work and Mission

• Work is an activity, mental or physical, paid or unpaid, done in various locals, including formal workplaces or at home.
• Christian purpose of work: to make a living, provide for our household, bless others, and increase in wealth.
• Mission: obeying Jesus' command to go to all nations, baptize, and teach the faith, with Christ as the model of a truly loving missionary.
• Visita Iglesia: visiting 7 churches after the Last Supper Mass, including adoration.

Social Teachings of the Church on Work

• Created in God's image and likeness, humans receive a "mandate" to "subdue, to dominate the earth" and share in the activity of the Creator.
• St. John Paul II's encyclical "Laborem Exercens" presents work as a blessing, not a hardship, and expresses the intrinsic and extrinsic value of work.
• Issues addressed include technological advances, workers' rights and dignity, and conflict between labor and capital.
• Pope Benedict XVI quotes St. John Paul II in "Laborem Exercens" to uphold the dignity of work and the rights of workers.
• Pope Francis wrote in his 2015 encyclical Laudato Si that even Jesus himself worked.

Catechism of the Catholic Church on Work

• God entrusted the earth and its resources to the common stewardship of mankind to take care of them, master them by labor, and enjoy their fruits.
• Human work proceeds directly from persons created in the image of God, hence work is a duty.
• The primordial value of labor stems from its author, beneficiary, and man himself.
• Work is a fundamental dimension of human existence on Earth.