(4/2019) Every Fat Tuesday, I spend the day thinking
about all the things I know I will miss during Lent: that
snack food I like to munch on after dinner, that show on
Netflix or that book I use to pass the time in between
obligations. I find myself, in that last week before Ash
Wednesday, trying to cherish the freedom that, once Lent
begins, I will not see until Easter comes around. As much
as I dread its arrival, Lent is one of my favorite
Liturgical seasons. I look forward to it each year as an
opportunity to start again, to examine my life anew and
make concrete changes to improve it. Lent is the one time
of year when the soul is at the center of everything we
do, and the time when we most concretely attempt, wearing
our imperfections on our sleeves, to live as Christ lived.
A holy life, however, is not one-size-fits-all, and the
best way to grow in holiness is particular to each person.
This Lent is a time of preparation for me, not only for
the sacred feast of Easter, but also for the renewals that
are fast approaching in my life: graduation, only a few
weeks after Easter, and the vocation that awaits me
beyond. "How could I," I asked myself and God, "use this
Lenten season to prepare for the great changes that are
coming? How do I use my time now, so that my graduation
and the steps that follow will not seem like the death of
the beautiful years behind me, but instead an opportunity
rise to a new life?"
The answer that came to me was to try to live the best
possible version of my last two months at school. In order
to end my time at the Mount on a good note, I resolved
through my Lenten promises to reform my body, mind, and
soul, the resources God gave me, so as to direct them more
readily toward the proper fulfillment of my vocation.
While it may seem like common sense to live a healthy
life, college students are notorious for neglecting the
needs of their bodies, mostly using the excuse that "we
don’t have enough time" to do what our bodies need us to
do in order to remain healthy. This Lent, I resolved to
make time to take care of my body. Proper and regular
eating, sufficient sleep, exercise –by far my weakest
point!—and time for rest are all part of my Lenten
practice this year. This may not sound like "fasting," and
indeed it may not be, in a traditional sense. It can,
however, bear fruit nonetheless. This year I have resolved
to rest on Sundays as a way to dedicate time to
rejuvenating my body, to spending cherished time with
loved ones, and to prayer. While it has been difficult to
rearrange my work week to accommodate this, I have found
that the commandment exists for a reason. The human body,
mind and soul need rest sometimes. We must carve out time
to be ourselves outside of the demands of our work, to
form bonds of companionship with others, and to spend
special time in prayer.
I have also resolved to take care of my mind this Lent.
The primary reason I came to Mount St. Mary’s University
in the first place was to expand my mind. Learning, then,
is my primary vocation as a student, and the task that God
has given me to fulfill during these four years. My Lenten
promises, then, challenge me to give this vocation my best
efforts, and to finish my four years strongly. In the next
several weeks, I will present two capstone projects that
will serve as the representation of my work here at the
Mount: my senior honors presentation and my senior music
recital. Both are intimidating projects which will require
much of my time to prepare, so a little Lenten discipline
will go a long way. This Lent, I have resolved to give
these projects the time and effort they deserve. I owe it
to God, who gave me the gift of this education, to my
mentors who have guided me along the way, and to myself to
finish with my head held high.
Finally, and most importantly, Lent is the time to take
special care of the soul. The noisy demands and
distractions of daily life sometimes pull me away from the
most important part of life: my relationship with God.
Building a healthy spiritual life will help build a
healthy life in general; it will center me around God, on
whom I can always depend, and help me to act according to
His will as I prepare to leave His holy mountain. To
promote spiritual growth this Lent, I have set aside
specific times to prayer and reflection, replaced leisure
reading with sacred reading, and resolved to frequently
participate in the sacraments of Communion and confession.
These practices will help me keep God by my side as the
year progresses, and to entrust Him with the anxieties and
uncertainties of the coming months.
As day after day passes by, it seems like time is my
enemy. There is simply not enough time in the day to
dedicate to the bare necessities, let alone the extra joys
of uninterrupted evenings spent with friends and leisure
hours to enjoy the beauty of the campus around me. For
Lent, I am trying to use the time I have left
deliberately, in ways that prepare me for what lies ahead.
In this way, Lent is like a microcosm of the Christian
life. We cannot know how much time we will be given, and
inevitably it will come to an end, probably before we feel
"ready." Our time is our responsibility to spend wisely.
We must prepare while we can and withstand the sufferings
that arise while we wait for the new life ahead of us to
welcome us home.
