The academic third quarter at San Francisco’s St. Ignatius College Prep., California, United States, for both students and teachers alike, tends to have the notorious distinction of being one of the most challenging, both mentally and academically, of the four quarters of the academic year. With half of the school year behind us, mental and physical energy and “time” can be at a minimum. And this is when Lent typically arrives.
Contrary to the typical desert-dry liturgical image of the season, Lent coincides with spring when the daffodils and other bulbs planted before the winter frost begin to bloom. Yet, in the Bay Area, the shift from winter to spring isn’t so dramatic, but with the Lenten spring comes a strong energy for asking questions. One can overhear in the hallways, « What are you giving up” and “What are you doing for Lent?” The following is a glimpse into how we at SI enter into Lent using its three traditional symbols: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.
Prayer begins with listening and is a symbol of our call to find God in all things. We ushered in Lent by listening to God’s Word with an all-school Ash Wednesday Liturgy of the Word (and because it was Valentine’s Day, many wore a particular shade of violet: rose.) “Monday Morning Ministry,” our ongoing weekly celebration of liturgy (either of the Word or Eucharist) begins our school week and is bookended with a communal Examen on Fridays. Faculty and staff are offered a « Spiritual Exercises Express’ program, which provides meditations and contemplations aimed at sparking an interest among colleagues to explore praying the exercises further, such as through an 8-Day summer retreat or the 19th Annotation. The Adult Spirituality team purchases a range of calendars, arts and craft projects, and devotional books, including Sacred Space and the Little Black Book, which are then distributed free of charge. Finally, our school’s fine arts teacher creates a display at the main entrance, aiming to embody the spirit of the season, using fabric, color, wood, and tesserae.
Lent calls us to clear away the things that distract us so that we can focus on the retreat-like atmosphere of the season. One such clearing away is fasting, allowing us to see with new eyes. On the periphery, many fast from food and technology, and at a deeper level, many desire to fast from bad habits and selfish ways. At SI, fasting takes on a variety of ways. Summer Immersion groups are finalized and formation begins in earnest. An important part of the immersion experience is “simple living” with its sense of sacrifice for both students and faculty alike. On the other hand, while not fasting, faculty and staff gather for « Lenten lunches.” These free, simple soup and sandwich prayer and reflection gatherings are sponsored by Adult Spirituality, typically attracting over 30 colleagues over two lunch periods. In providing a free meal, we encourage colleagues to donate their meal money to a charity of their choice as a form of alms. In our “fasting,” we remember that we do this not to deprive ourselves, but to aim our thoughts upon what is essential.
Lastly with almsgiving, we take to heart that “caring for our common home” – which is our 2023-2024 school theme – relies on caring for our common humanity, an homage to cura personalis. We began the first week of Lent with our Social Justice Week, welcoming Sarahi Espinoza Salamanca, founder and CEO of DREAMer’s Roadmap, to speak on the themes of migratory justice and ecological justice. A crucial aspect of Social Justice Week is the Friday culmination where the entire school community convened with their 7th period class for a communal reflection session. During this session, we built upon the themes presented in the keynote address through testimonies from members of our community, individual reflections, small group discussions, and whole-class discussions. It was a beautiful and meaningful way to see our faith doing justice in action and I am grateful for our Community Service and Social Justice team for leading this. Elsewhere, a few religious studies’ classes participate in the traditional Rice Bowl coordinated by Catholic Relief Services. Community service is amplified by highlighting opportunities for longstanding, direct service like the Comfort Run – providing food for the hungry in a poor area of San Francisco at 6am or Martin’s House of Hospitality, a free restaurant in San Francisco that students and faculty volunteer for that has been in operation for over thirty years. And everyone in our community was encouraged to sign up and actively focus their mind and actions through the Lenten Ecological Justice series with the Ignatian Solidarity Network. All that we do as a community – including the ongoing service work that our students do outside of Lent – shows that concern for the poor is our greatest Lenten symbol.
As we began Lent this year, our Assistant Principal for Mission invited everyone to consider, “What might Lenten practices make space for in your life in a time when our energies decline?” And encouragingly she said:
“God only knows…and I mean that sincerely! Please know that I’m praying for you each day of this sacred season. I’m praying that each of you is well, happy and noticing the moments when you’re being invited to live as the highest version of yourselves. You can do it! We can do it!”
This is just a snapshot of Lent at SI, and I know that there are others things that occur without my knowing (God knows!). So wherever you are and however you find yourself celebrating Lent this year, know that you are in my prayers as we journey through these forty days – along with the Elect (those chosen by God and affirmed by the Church who are ready to celebrate the Sacraments of Initiation at the next Easter Vigil) – towards our high holy days: the Paschal Triduum. Because, let’s face it, Lent is not that long! We have a renewed opportunity for metanoia, but we have to want to commit to it.
You can do it! We can do it!
More pictures here:
https://siprep.slickpic.com/albums/Social-Justice-Summit-Photos-By-Bowerbird-Photography/?wallpaper
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