Lenten Season

 

Question: Lory Manalo ANG TANONG KO MAY MABASA KA BANG KUWARESMA SA BIBLIA ? SA KATOLIKO LANG MERON NIYAN SA MGA BOOKS NILA NA MGA DAG DAG SA BIBLIA? NA HINDI NAMAN NGA DAW MATUNTON SA ARAL NG APOSTOL .. [MY QUESTION IS, CAN WE READ LENTEN SEASON IN THE BIBLE? ONLY CATHOLIC HAS THIS IN THEIR BOOKS AS ADDITIONAL TO THE BIBLE? WHEREIN WE CANNOT TRACE THE ORIGIN TO THE APOSTLES TEACHING..] Iglesia Ni Manalo Business Club Member.

LENTEN SEASON

By c.pio

Lent is a time when Catholics prepare for Easter through the observance of interior repentance and penance, prayer, fasting and almsgiving. It is a journey of faith on its way to meet the Risen Lord at Easter. A time for reflection on Jesus Christ redemptive action - his suffering and his sacrifice, his life, death, burial and resurrection and ends with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, exclusive on Holy Thursday. [40 days period of fasting and preparation to celebrate Christ's conquering of death and sin]

REMEMBERING CHRIST’S REDEMPTIVE ACTION

"You shall tell your child on that day, saying, 'It is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.'” [Exodus 13:8]

According to a Jewish Rabbi, REMEMBERING is considered to be not a memorial but a RE-LIVING.

Hebrew used the word and concept of MEMORY. "History is what happened to someone else. Memory is what happened to me". Memory is zêkher in Hebrew and relates to the concepts of preserving a family line through male descendants, memorials, remembrance and the having of a name. To blot out the name of someone [e.g., the Amalekites, is to blot out their memory]. www.leaderu.com

"The most important gift one generation can give to the next is the knowledge of the journey those before us took, and the sacrifices they had to make, to bring us to where we are. Without that knowledge, we travel blindly. If we forget what our parents fought for, we may have to fight for it again. Hindsight is the necessary tutor of foresight". Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi, The Times, 6 May 1995

If a Jewish People defined REMEMBERING as season of RE-LIVING the Biblical account of the Israelite redemption from slavery and their exodus from Egypt, We too, Catholics have to re-live our deliverance from the bondage of sin made by our Lord Jesus Christ.

ASH WEDNESDAY

“Remember that thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return.” [Genesis 3:19.]

Ash Wednesday is the starting point of Lenten Season. On this day, we remind of our nothingness before God. Submitting oneself to reality that we are from dust and to dust we shall return – Our Dependence on God Almighty Humility to the Creator of all things: The Reliance on the Omnipotent Power of God and supplication on God’s mercy.

 “The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God; God is in none of his thoughts.” [PSALM 10:4] "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." [JAMES 4:6]

ASHES AND DUST

Ashes, as a Jewish sign of penitence, derived from burning the palms from the previous year, the ashes are blessed and imposed on the faithful [forehead in America & Philippines while in Europe poured on the head] during the ceremony after the Homily of the Mass.

Ashes remind us of our humble beginning: There are many occurrences where we see people in the Old Covenant putting ashes on their head. This outward popular symbol of private or public Sorrow, Sadness or Penance is a proof of humility, the result of human frailty, a remembrance of our Mortality.

"And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but DUST and ASHES" "Wherefore I abhor my words, and repent, seeing I am dust and ashes." [Job 42:6]

"Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell facedown to the ground before the ark of the LORD, remaining there till evening. The elders of Israel did the same and sprinkled dust on their heads." [Joshua 7:6]

(a) REPENTANCE AND MOURNING

The Bible does mention the practice of repentance and mourning in ashes:

"When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads." [Job 2:12]

"The elders of the Daughter of Zion sit on the ground in silence; they have sprinkled dust on their heads and put on sackcloth. The young women of Jerusalem have bowed their heads to the ground." [Lamentation 2:10]

"They will raise their voice and cry bitterly over you; they will sprinkle dust on their heads and roll in ashes." [Ezekiel 27:30]

"That day they fasted and wore sackcloth; they sprinkled ashes on their heads and tore their clothes" [1 Maccabees 3:47]

"O daughter of my people, gird on sackcloth, roll in the ashes" [Jeremiah 6:26]

"And the tidings reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes." [Jonah 3:6]

"What horrors await you, Korazin and Bethsaida! For if the miracles I did in you had been done in wicked Tyre and Sidon, their people would have sat in deep repentance long ago, clothed in sackcloth and throwing ashes on their heads to show their remorse. [Matthew 11:21] [Luke 10:13]

“I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance." [Job 42:6]

the people returned for another observance. This time they fasted and dressed in sackcloth and sprinkled dust on their heads. [Nehemiah 9:1]

So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and fasting. I wore rough sackcloth and sprinkled myself with ashes. [Daniel 9:3]

The people of Nineveh believed God's message, and from the greatest to the least, they decided to go without food and wear sackcloth to show their sorrow. When the king of Nineveh heard what Jonah was saying, he stepped down from his throne and took off his royal robes. He dressed himself in sackcloth and sat on a heap of ashes. [Jonah 3:5-6]   When God saw that they had put a stop to their evil ways, he had mercy on them and didn't carry out the destruction he had threatened. [Jonah 3:10]

(b) PURIFICATION

From the Old, Ashes from the Altar of God are used for Purification.

Then someone who is ceremonially clean will gather up the ashes of the heifer and place them in a purified place outside the camp. They will be kept there for the people of Israel to use in the water for the purification ceremony. This ceremony is performed for the removal of sin. The man who gathers up the ashes of the heifer must also wash his clothes, and he will remain ceremonially unclean until evening. This is a permanent law for the people of Israel and any foreigners who live among them. [Numbers 19:9-10]

"To remove the defilement, put some of the ashes from the burnt purification offering in a jar and pour fresh water over them. [Numbers 19:17]

Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow could cleanse people's bodies from ritual defilement. [Hebrews 9:13]

(c) PURPLE COLOR OF LENT

Bible speaks about PURPLE color that will cover the Altar [Numbers 4:12-14]

Ashes must be kept and part of Liturgical Celebration in the Old:

Exodus 27:1-3;Leviticus 1:16;Leviticus 4:12;Leviticus 6:10-11

FASTING and ABSTINENCE

That is why the LORD says, "Turn to me now, while there is time! Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning. [Joel 2:12]

So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and fasting. I wore rough sackcloth and sprinkled myself with ashes. [Daniel 9:3]

The people returned for another observance. This time they fasted and dressed in sackcloth and sprinkled dust on their heads. [Nehemiah 9:1]

Paul and Barnabas also appointed elders in every church and prayed for them with fasting, turning them over to the care of the Lord, in whom they had come to trust. [Acts 14:23]

And in every province, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes. [Ester 4:3]

When I weep and fast before the LORD, they scoff at me. When I dress in sackcloth to show sorrow, they make fun of me. I am the favorite topic of town gossip, and all the drunkards sing about me. But I keep right on praying to you, LORD, hoping this is the time you will show me favor. In your unfailing love, O God, answer my prayer with your sure salvation. [Psalm 69:10-13]

So you go to the Temple on the next day of fasting, and read the messages from the LORD that are on this scroll. On that day people will be there from all over Judah. [Jeremiah 36:6]

FORTY (40) DAYS PERIOD

We all know that number seven (7) signifies completeness, so number forty (40) signifies something and this is the traditional number of judgment, spiritual testing and journey in the Bible [Genesis 7:4, Exodus 24:18; 34:28, Numbers 13:25; 14:33, Jonah 3:4] and especially refer to the 40 days Christ spent fasting in the desert before entering into his public ministry [Mt 4:1-11].

For forty days and forty nights he ate nothing and became very hungry. [Matthew 4:2]

On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds: "Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!" The people of Nineveh believed God's message, and from the greatest to the least, they decided to go without food and wear sackcloth to show their sorrow. When the king of Nineveh heard what Jonah was saying, he stepped down from his throne and took off his royal robes. He dressed himself in sackcloth and sat on a heap of ashes. Then the king and his nobles sent this decree throughout the city: "No one, not even the animals, may eat or drink anything at all. Everyone is required to wear sackcloth and pray earnestly to God. Everyone must turn from their evil ways and stop all their violence. Who can tell? Perhaps even yet God will have pity on us and hold back his fierce anger from destroying us."  When God saw that they had put a stop to their evil ways, he had mercy on them and didn't carry out the destruction he had threatened. [Jonah 3:4-10]

Then Moses disappeared into the cloud as he climbed higher up the mountain. He stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. [Exodus 24:18]

After exploring the land for forty days, the men returned [Numbers 13:25]

So he got up and ate and drank, and the food gave him enough strength to travel forty days and forty nights to Mount Sinai, the mountain of God. [1Kings 19:8]

Dear Theophilus: In my first book I told you about everything Jesus began to do and teach  until the day he ascended to heaven after giving his chosen apostles further instructions from the Holy Spirit. During the forty days after his crucifixion, he appeared to the apostles from time to time and proved to them in many ways that he was actually alive. On these occasions he talked to them about the Kingdom of God. [Act 1:1-3]

Surely 100% Biblical!