By Christina Hermoso
As Christendom marks the Second Sunday of Lent tomorrow, a Roman Catholic Church leader urged netizens to limit or set aside the use of social media as part of their Lenten sacrifice.
Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo
(CBCP NEWS / ROY LAGARDE / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
“Set aside or limit the use of social media such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter this season of Lent as part of your Lenten sacrifice. Instead, spend the time on prayer and reflection,” Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick S. Pabillo urged Catholics.
“We can devote the time that we spend on social media on enriching our faith by praying, reading the Holy Bible, or by spending time with the sick. You give to others what you have denied yourself,” Pabillo said over Church-run Radio Veritas.
“Restraining ourselves from doing the things that we enjoy such as social media use is a form of sacrifice and self-discipline,” the prelate said.
According to a report by “We Are Social”, many Filipinos spend an average of 10 hours a day on the internet.
Meanwhile, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio G. Cardinal Tagle continued to call on the faithful to support the Church’s Fast2Feed program, which targets to feed malnourished children. The program encourages the faithful to fast and to donate the money that was saved from fasting to support the Church’s feeding and livelihood assistance projects.
Catholic Church officials also continue to encourage the faithful “to examine their conscience, to repent of any sin, and to observe the Sacrament of Penance” as the observance of the Holy Week nears.
The confessional will be open for longer hours Sunday (March 17), the Second Sunday of Lent, to enable more churchgoers to go to confession. Catholics are also reminded to observe the three tenets of the observance of the Lenten season: almsgiving, prayer, and fasting as forms of sacrifices and in accordance with Pope Francis’ call for Christians to observe “mercy and compassion” towards others.