The first way that I hope to share the meaning of Lent with my students comes from something that I learned a few years ago. Common Lenten practices consist of giving up favorite foods, drinks, TV shows, poor habits, and in some cases these days, giving up social media access. In theory, these are good individual things. However, if the point of Lent is to bring us closer to Christ through the Paschal Mystery, then we must ask first ask ourselves what was the point of Christ's crucifixion. I asked my students this, and they were able to tell me that Christ loved us so much that he died for our sins. Correct. He loved us and died for our sins. These italicized words are communal in nature. With this idea of community in mind, I try to share with my students that when they are determining what they will "do for Lent" they should consider how those actions can make them better for their not only themselves but also their communities. Does simply giving up a certain food or drink for Lent help us work with others? Does removing oneself from social media enable us to be more socially present? Perhaps, yes. Perhaps, no. All of our journeys are different, but we are all called to a "new evangelization" that asks us to go out and bring the faith to people rather than waiting for them to come in.
This idea of individual journeys leads me to the other way I'll try to teach Lent to my students. This way comes from something I read recently in my Living with Christ subscription. The editor in the booklet talked about how Michaelangelo referred to his sculptures as beautiful works already created he just needed to knock away the stone to find them. The editor likened this idea to our Lenten journeys. He said that our Lenten time is be a great time for us to continue knocking away the stone that surrounds our lives until we are left showing our true beauty that God already completed out of love. I hope that this sculpture concept will resonate with my students as it has with me.
The editor's complete reflection is in the picture below:
After all, as I tell my students, everything that we do within the church should always point us toward the Kingdom of God. With this in mind, here is a quote that I found the other day in my Lenten reflective material, "God's kingdom is, first of all, the active presence of God's Spirit within us, offering us the freedom we truly desire." May our Lenten journey practices provide us all with that freedom.
May we be ever-faithful, ever-mindful, and ever-joyful.
