InsightOut: To See Again the Stars – Campus Ministry’s Entry into Lent
With Lent just around the corner – Ash Wedneday falls on Feb. 18 this year — the St. Mike’s Campus Ministry team had the pleasure of taking some time to discuss together our insights, hopes, and ponderings on Lent. The exercise has helped to nourish our souls, to bond us together as a team, and now, to allow us to share our thoughts with you, the wider SMC community.
Here are some thoughts, pulled from our conversation:
Lent is about love & longing
“Lent is about remembering to give up for the sacrifice that has been so willingly and lovingly made for us, and making time to pause intentionally, look back, and appreciate [Jesus], our first love.” (Chloe Kim, Social and Community Outreach Coordinator)
“Lent is not an empty time of waiting. In Lent, the content of the waiting is one of desire and longing. And to me that is the Christian life. This quality of longing which is fulfilled but not yet.” (Christina Labriola, Music and Ministry Coordinator)
Lent is about responding to God
“For me, Lent draws me into deeper reflection towards self-discipline. Recognizing where my weaknesses are and recognizing that God’s always here pulling at me and that I need to respond to that call… It’s a reminder that, yes, we’re going to keep messing up, we’re fallible, we’re human, but God’s always here and it’s always that conversation. Him pulling me and me responding. And I have to do that responding.” (Faith, Interfaith Coordinator)
Lent is about intentional and lasting growth
“Lent is about listening. Listening to what God is pulling you towards and what the Holy Spirit may be invoking in you in this period of growth.” (Carina MacKinnon, Social and Community Outreach Coordinator)
“For as long as I can remember, I always choose something, usually social media, and I decide I’m going to give it up for Lent. By the time Lent is over I slowly get back into it until it becomes a problem again for next Lent. It seems like a disservice to the Lenten season to just keep falling back into the same thing, so what I hope to get out of Lent this year is to actually detach from it and be able to, not solve the problem, but to have such a handle on it that I won’t have to give it up again next year. So that it’s not as much of a cycle but it’s an actual improvement in my life.” (Paige Mullin, Christian Discipleship Coordinator)
Lent is about discovering the beauty of simplicity
“I think that it’s a time to cultivate a certain kind of simplicity and refocus on the essentials… Sometimes we think of Lent as a morose time, but no, it has a beauty to it in its simplicity and sense of more intense focus and of renewed commitment to discipleship.” (Christina)
“I recall last year in Lent before my baptism, because of zeal and what I thought in my mind of Lent, I wanted to take on so much… But we are not able to sustain that. I was trying to do so much instead of going back to simplicity and focusing on the essentials.” (Carina)
“We don’t sing Alleluia during Lent. It’s not that it’s a sad time or a time that doesn’t have beauty, but we are choosing to put aside the joy of that “Alleluia” for a time so that we can resurrect it at Easter all the more gloriously and with all of the joy renewed.” (Christina)
Lent is about slowing down
“I think I’m realizing that I need to try to think of ways that slowing down and rest can also be a form of fasting or prayer. How can that be a part of Lenten observance? Rather than thinking “I’m giving up social media because it’s bad”, I’m trying to think of the things that take up so much time in my day, that I don’t need to give that much energy to, that shouldn’t have that much power over me.” (Bridget Bowles, Christian Discipleship Coordinator)
“I’m also thinking about slowing down so that I can have a more reflective mindset and look at what my goals are, especially now that I am graduating next year. I’m trying to think about what my future will look like, so I think that having a more reflective mindset this season is something that’s important.” (Jack Sturman, Interfaith Coordinator)
“To see again the stars”
“I once heard a beautiful image about Lent that I’ve always remembered, which is that it is a chosen darkening of your surroundings, and of all the sort of garish lights that surround you, so that the stars can shine out more brightly. It’s the darkness that allows the true light to shine. With too many distractions we can’t really see what is essential.” (Christina)
“In the Divine Comedy, when Dante gets out of hell, the first thing he comments on are the stars and in that moment he doesn’t even have to say that they are beautiful. It’s just so refreshing after feeling so claustrophobic for so long… all of the sudden we just have this open sky and the darkness has made the stars even brighter.” (Bridget)
Living Lent on Campus this year
Our Campus Ministry Team warmly invites you to lean into the season of Lent with us this year, by praying with us at our Saturday evening Masses (6:30pm in St. Basil’s Catholic Parish), and participating in almsgiving through our Thursday Snack Outreach program. Campus Ministry is also starting up a Lenten Prayer and Fellowship Group, for students who want to journey together into this period of fasting and simplicity, to focus on what is truly important and “to see again the stars.”
Read other InsightOut posts.