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Lent arrives with the celebration of Ash Wednesday on the February 18th, 2015. Lent is not typically a favourite liturgical season for young people. In fact, that's true for a lot of people, but it is certainly a season that I have come to appreciate over the years.
Usually about a week before Ash Wednesday I hear the conversations start in the school corridors and among my own children around the dinner table: "It's almost here and I don't know what I'm giving up yet" or the somewhat typical "I'm giving up chips or chocolate or popcorn." Occasionally I hear rather creative sacrifices such as giving up hot showers or sleeping without a pillow for the entire six weeks of Lent. I'm not trying to suggest that all sacrifice is wrong or bad. Sacrifice can be a real gift to ourselves if the purpose of that sacrifice is to draw us closer to God. In Lent, we "give things up" to bring us into an ever-deepening relationship with God and one another.
In order to determine what our students can do to help them enter the season of Lent more fully, it is important to help them reflect on the Gospel readings for Ash Wednesday. Once we reflect on the temptations that Jesus faced in the desert, we are better able to determine the temptations that we confront in our lives. Fr. Barron gives an excellent summary of the meaning of this reading below.
It's challenging in our culture to move from that sense of "feast" to a sense of "fast". One of the most powerful experiences I had of this movement was through a youth program put on by our local church. The program started with a true Mardi Gras experience.
The room was decorated with green, gold and purple streamers and balloons. There were games set up throughout the room, a prize table in one corner, and the food table was unbelievable - laden with cakes, candy and even an ice cream bar. Students were free to travel from game to game until they collected enough tokens to claim a prize. The first hour flowed over with lavish abundance. Then the festivities were abruptly halted. All the participants were handed a garbage bag to be filled with streamers and balloons and any garbage found lying about. Games were disassembled and removed; prizes and food were cleared. In 15 minutes any trace of the party was gone. Students gathered in a circle to learn about the meaning of Lent. After learning about the idea of sacrificing "for" something students were invited to reflect on what they were going to do for Lent that year. Everyone received 4 coloured cards - green, blue, yellow or white. Each colour represented self, family, school or the larger community. They were asked to choose one category, select the appropriate coloured card and write something they were going to do to affect a positive change in that area. Students brought forward their cards (unsigned), placed them on a Bristol board and received a bead bracelet of the corresponding colour that they could wear throughout the Lenten season to remember what they had chosen to do. The Bristol boards were placed at the back of the church for Ash Wednesday and the first Sunday of Lent so that the parishioners could see what the young people of the church were doing, and hopefully be motivated in the same direction.
This idea can certainly be modified in a number of ways to suit a variety of settings. The important thing is to help students realize that with Lent we enter into a different time. Our focus is different, more intentional. We are called to reflect on our relationship to our God, our Church and our world.
In Canada the Share Lent campaign has long been associated with Lenten practices in our schools and parishes. The Development and Peace website provides a variety of ways for children, teenagers and their families to participate in this campaign. The title of the campaign this year is "Sow Much Love to Give", continuing with the theme of ending world hunger.
Students can use the Share Lent calendar as a prayerful reflection tool at home. It helps keep us mindful of the many blessings we have and how we can best share our blessings with those less fortunate.
This year, Development and Peace has come up with some ways of engaging younger students in their campaign. They have a word search sheet for students in grades 2- 4 and a crossword for students in grades 4-6 available at their website. Also available is an interactive seed map for any age that shows the relationship between seeds and the foods we eat. Another great way to engage youth in the Share Lent campaign is to have them participate in a Thinkfast. This 25-hour fast engages youth in learning about the variety of issues involved in world hunger all the while raising money to contribute to the Share Lent campaign. There are a variety of models available for hosting a Thinkfast. All the tools you need are available at the click of a finger on the Development and Peace website. Any of the activities in the Thinkfast package are very user-friendly and can be used as a stand alone program to engage young people in a conversation about world hunger and social justice.
Make the most of this Lenten season. May this be a time of renewal and refocusing on the heart of our faith-our relationship with the One who calls us to transformative love.
Peace!
Annette Donovan Panchaud
Campus Minister
King's University College
[email protected]
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