Each year, the Catholic Church celebrates the season of Lent for forty days between Ash Wednesday and Easter. For Christians, the Lenten season is a time for prayer, introspection, almsgiving, and penance. Most notably, many Christians engage in fasting on various days throughout the period, including abstinence from meat. They also give up a chosen vice or luxury for the season, commemorating the sacrifices of Jesus during his forty-day voyage into the desert.
At Jesuit, the school’s Campus Ministry department celebrates the season in a variety of ways. One fixture of the Lenten season at Jesuit is the weekly Stations of the Cross prayer service in the chapel every Friday during Lent. The prayer, which accompanies a series of images that illustrate Jesus’ crucifixion, is open to all students. They serve as an opportunity to atone for one’s sins while reflecting on the Passion of Christ.
The chapel has also hosted sessions of reconciliation throughout Lent, offering Jesuit students an opportunity to engage in prayer with God and ask for forgiveness for sinful actions.
Both faculty and students have taken advantage of the opportunity to strengthen their faith lives during Lent. Every day throughout Lent, Campus Ministry’s Faculty Blog publishes a post from a different faculty member, who discuss the ways they have strengthened their relationships with God this year.
In this year’s inaugural Faculty Blog, Mr. Colin Hanley offered these words regarding the Season of Lent in the Catholic Church:
“Although the Church does have a somber tone, with the focus on feelings of sin and sadness, death and loss, I feel a large amount of comfort knowing that the Lenten journey we are embarking on, while associated with pain and suffering, is going to lead us to Good Friday and the Cross, where we can see God’s love for us, and eventually to Easter Sunday, where the empty tomb we encounter is full of new life!”
Describing this year’s celebrations, Mrs. Crowder remarked, “This year, we came back from Spring Break and prayed together as an entire community with a traditional Stations of the Cross. We continued this prayer every Friday during the lunch periods for all who were interested. Praying with the Stations of the Cross is a wonderful opportunity to walk alongside Jesus in His journey and reflect on how each stage of His journey relates to our current experiences.” She said the Faculty Blog has been “an incredible gift” that encourages the faculty themselves and the community at large to reflect on their relationship with Christ this Lent.
Stay tuned to The Roundup for more news regarding the Campus Ministry department at Jesuit!
