Open Your Heart: Lent 2021

 This post is by Michael Beard, Campus Minister at Mount Mercy University.

For those looking for the resources they can be found halfway down the entry; for those unaware of the resources, there are resources and info to share, so heads up! This is a longer entry!

This Wednesday marks the formal beginning of this year's Lent. Before flooding you with opportunities for engaging the season, just a few simple thoughts around this theme Campus Ministry has adopted for Lent: Open Your Heart. In the Catholic cycle of liturgy readings, Ash Wednesday always has the same set of readings every year. Joel 2:12-18; Psalm 51: 3-6ab, 12-14, 17; 2 Corinthians 5:20--6:2; and Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18. You can read them here. 

The second sentence of Joel's passage is a command: "Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the LORD, your God." In Joel's time and culture, tearing garments was a sign of mourning, loss, grief. However, God did not want a gesture that was all flash and no substance; God wanted them to open their hearts, acknowledging their sin, feeling genuine remorse for it, and a desire to walk with God once again. The act had become so removed from the internal disposition that was supposed to cause it! Joel's audience is a people who had suffered an agricultural crisis in the form of poor winter rain and a locust infestation. They were dealing with the logistical concerns of this without realizing that perhaps God was taking advantage of the moment to communicate a message to them: come back! Little by little, the community and the individuals had wandered away from God by degrees. 

In our tradition, lament and contrition actually give way to hope. God calls the people (and us): tear your heart open that God may enter in. Have hope that God will heal you, sustain you, and lead you where you need to go. 

Every year we ought to take time to examine how we've drifted off-course and prayerfully discern how to adjust back to where/how we're called to be. This year in particular, though, merits some real reflection. Uncertainty, stress, and deprivation of sources of renewal may not always be at the front of our mind, but they eat away at us, much like an app consuming battery life as it runs in the background. In stressful times, we may well start thinking in purely material, physical, logistical terms and not take a moment to discern how God might be speaking to us in the storm. Even those of us who are faring pretty well might not realize that we might not have taken a jump or a leap away, but rather some simple quiet steps away from God's lead. What blockades have we set up? What reasons have we used for shutting God's voice out? For shutting others out? The Christian heart is one that is striving to be open to others through God's means, not set up barricades of our own making. 

This Lent, open your heart! Open it to God, be transparent and candid in conversation with God. Unpack your heart to Him. And in doing this, the hope is that you'll discover your heart is more able to be open to others.

Below you will find some concrete resources for those of you who are part of the MMU community. I hope they are of help to you. Prayers as we make our way through Lent; may your heart know God's healing and love, and may you share that with others sans reserve.

Resources for Lent 2021:

Open Your Heart 

For Christians, Lent is a special season of repentance in anticipation of the sorrow of Christ’s crucifixion on Good Friday and the joy of the Resurrection at Easter. Living in hope, we have the courage to examine how we fall short of how we are called to live and love in this world, acknowledge our sins, and take action to make amends and correct course. In the Catholic tradition (as well as other Christian traditions, too!), there are three main areas of focus for that examination, repentance, and action. These are Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving. Whether you are well-traveled through the Lenten journey or are a relative beginner, we hope these resources will help you find ways to live out a meaningful and fruitful Lent.

Prayer

-Communal Prayer: All are welcome! Our Lenten Activities sheet (found on our page) has all the dates and times (except for small groups)!

·         Small Groups – Our Residential Peer Ministers each lead a small group throughout the semester. Contact Michael (mbeard@mtmercy.edu) for more information.

·         Stations of the Cross (see our flier, linked above)

·         Praise and Worship (see our flier, linked above)

·         Mass – Mass continues at 7:30 PM on Sundays and 11:30 AM on Wednesdays in the Chapel.

-Personal Prayer

·         The Chapel is open at most times for your personal prayer and reflection. Aside from your ID to get in the office door, you don’t need to bring anything except yourself!

·         Eucharistic Adoration - on Tuesdays this semester, the Blessed Sacrament will be exposed from 9 AM to 1 PM. You are welcome to come for as long or as little as you wish for silence, prayer, and rest in Jesus’ presence.

·         Stations of the Cross - There are opportunities to pray the Stations on your own as well as in a group. Booklets are available in the Chapel as you come in (look to the bookshelf). You can also check out video versions of the Stations here:

o   In the style of St. Francis of Assisi

o   In the style of St. Alphonsus Liguori

o   A shortened version if you only have 10 minutes

·         Scripture – Praying with Scripture is a classic prayer form in Christianity. If you are unsure how to begin, Fr. Mike Schmitz has a podcast that offers reflections and gives an outline for Scripture reading every day. To get the outline and a link to the podcast, click here.

Fasting

There are a couple of practices involving fasting in Lent:

            -Fasting: this is the reduction of our food intake. On Wednesday and Good Friday, Catholics are called to fast, that is, eat one meal and two smaller snacks that do not add up to a meal. It is a recommended practice throughout this season, though, to remind us that we don’t live on bread alone, but on God’s Word. It helps us put things back in the proper tiers of priority.

            -Abstinence: This means avoiding eating some particular thing. For Catholics in Lent, we give up meat on Fridays. Many people also “give up” or try to reduce something: sweets, snacks, swearing, Snapchat, fast food, etc. There will be meatless options on Fridays during Lent in the MMU Dining Hall, as well.

Besides Fridays, Ash Wednesday, and Good Friday, we encourage you to try practicing both fasting and abstinence during Lent. Just remember: Lent is not meant to be a dieting program; be open to fasting helping your relationship with God and those who go without food; abstain from things/actions in such a way that they connect you more richly with the Lord and with others.

Almsgiving

College students aren’t exactly known for having lots of cash to spare, but here are a few ways you might be able to give:

-40 Days of Kindness: You can find this here and here. These are simple actions you can take each day to engage with Lent!

-Fasting money. If giving something up this Lent translates to having more spending money, consider giving that money to a good cause:

-Food for Mustang Market: Just drop off food donations to Campus Ministry any weekday-Give your new money to your favorite charity.

-Buy someone you know is struggling lunch or coffee.

            -Families Helping Families Clothing Drive

                        Check out how you can help foster kids this Lent through this flier!