Date: 5 February 2016
Weekly Memorandum No. 2016 – 2.1
TO: AdZUHS Community
FROM: Father Principal
1. Principal’s Message:
This February 10, Christendom will observe Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten season. We are again invited to pause and reflect, and make some spiritual renewal. It is a time for us to practice more faithfully the spiritual disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.
While we may do these practices more intensely during Lent, they must be a regular part of our spiritual life. Lent gives us the opportunity to renew the life to which we are called through our baptism in Christ.
Also, while there is the element of sacrifice through “harsh” practices during this day and in the days that follow, we must approach Ash Wednesday with unshakeable optimism that something wonderful—like resurrection—will be the outcome.
2. Activities and Events for February 8 – 13, 2016
a. February8, Mon. * CHINESE NEW YEAR (Non-working holiday).
b. February 9, Tue. *
c. February 10, Wed. * Ash Wednesday
Mass presider: Fr. Arnel T. Ong, SJ
* Submission of Gr. 10 Test Drafts to Department Chairs
d. February 11, Thur. * Submission of Gr. 10 Test Drafts to AP Academics
e. February 12, Fri. * 7AM: Class Mass c/o Gr. 9 Pignatelli (Moderator: Ms. GelinaTuangco)
f. February 13, Sat. * 2PM – 7PM: Junior High School Promenade at the Astoria Regency
Pasonanca, Zamboanga City, “One Magical Night”
3. Teach Us To Pray: Fasting as Prayer
James Martin SJ
You probably know the guidelines for Lenten fasting. On Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, Catholics between the ages of 18 and 59 are to fast, that is, to eat only one full meal, without meat. On other Lenten Fridays they abstain from meat. But how does this relate to our spiritual lives?
The Gospel of Matthew describes three foundations of Jewish piety: almsgiving, prayer, and fasting. The three are interconnected. For early Christians, fasting was a way of not only disciplining one’s body but also saving money on food, which would then be given to the poor. St. Augustine and St. John Chrysostom both wrote that fasting without almsgiving wasn’t proper. The practice also deepens our solidarity with the poor, for whom involuntary hunger is a terrible way of life. In the 1990s, when I worked with refugees in Kenya, I was often a guest in their homes and saw how little they ate. It made me think twice about fasting food in my Jesuit community.
But where does prayer come in?
First, fasting deepens an awareness of our radical need for God to nourish us – both physically and spiritually.
Second, when fasting reminds us of the plight of the poor, advocate for them, and give alms.
Third, fasting reminds us that we do not need to be ruled by every physical need. Fasting is a kind of physical prayer that calls us to remember our reliance on God, the responsibility to help the poor, and the importance of self-control in life.
It’s not about following rules but about changing hearts.
James Martin is a Jesuit priest and author of Between Heaven and Mirth, The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything, and My Life with the Saints.
