Written by Kurt Ivan Uno Mendoza
In this season of Lent at the First Friday Mass on April 4, 2025 (Fourth Week of Lent), students from the School of Law and the School of Dentistry of the University of Baguio offered their prayers for renewal and reflection.
Rev. As is our custom, students attended the Mass, held at the UB Chapel, exclusively. Fr. Gabriel Kim, with Rev. Fr. Frenzel Dalmacio concelebrating and preaching. Hosted by the two academic divisions, the celebration functioned both as a continuous spiritual custom and an important Lenten practice for the students.
In his homily, Fr. Frenzel Dalmacio advised students to consider using the Lenten season to look into ways to become better people — not just in the spiritual sense, but in everyday life going forward as future professionals. “Lent is not just a call to repent but also an invitation to return to what is core for us — where faith and purpose touch,” he said. He asked those in the audience to model humility, compassion, and integrity in their studies and future careers, whether in social justice or healing.
Prayers were said for students and others preparing for final exams and board certifications, and for personal intentions searching for hope, strength and direction. The tone of the Mass mirrored that of Lent in its subdued solemnity, but also infused hope based on the promise of renewal.
Students walked out of the chapel not simply with an extra burden in terms of the things they now had to do, but a reenergized sense of spiritual purpose. With the muted cadence of the Fourth Week of Lent, the First Friday Mass became a soft nudge: it starts with a purpose, and with faith — not only with penance.
