Canisius College

Lent is our annual season of renewal. It is a time to slow down in get in touch with the Spirit. It is time for prayer, fasting, good works, and almsgiving.

Lenten Reflections 
U.S. Catholic Bishops 
Almsgiving 
Fasting 
Retreats

Is 58:7-10

Thus says the LORD:
Share your bread with the hungry,
shelter the oppressed and the homeless;
clothe the naked when you see them,
and do not turn your back on your own.
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your wound shall quickly be healed;
your vindication shall go before you,
and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer,
you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am!
If you remove from your midst
oppression, false accusation and malicious speech;
if you bestow your bread on the hungry
and satisfy the afflicted;
then light shall rise for you in the darkness,
and the gloom shall become for you like midday.

Campus Minister Sarah Signorino reflects on this passage from Isaiah:

How often have you heard a parent, a teacher or a friend say to you, "Don't just stand there, do something?" Peace activist Daniel Berrigan wrote, "Don't just do something, stand there."

For me, Lent is a time of crawling into dark solitude, retreats (which do have the word "retreat" in them for a reason) and social justice. Isaiah presents a very active call: Share! Shelter! Clothe! Pay attention! I acknowlege the call to action and appreciate how practical and necessary those steps are--not only for our own salvation but also for serving the real needs around us. My reflection on this reading brings to mind Dan Berrigan's more "passive" quote. We cannot merely act and feed the poor. It is also good to pause, question, pause, reflect, pause, and then act. By taking time for discernment and quiet, we are able to open new, creative ways to meet the needs of our neighbors.

Campus Minister Susan Fischer reflects on the meaning of Lent:

I write this as the Canisius student community is on “spring break”.  For some that means doubling up working shifts, for some, catching up on course work, for some it means traveling, in service or in recreation.  For me, it means a break in the ordinary rhythm of campus life…a chance to get some things done that I don’t usually have a chance to do.

The season of Lent does that for me spiritually.  My little “Black Book” that I received from my parish sits on the kitchen counter and reminds me daily to read it and pray with it.  Signs for “fish fry dinners” abound which reminds me to pay closer attention to my dietary intake! But mostly, this is a time that best integrates my spiritual and religious life which sometimes gets separated.  The Catholic Church is a beautiful place to be during Lent and Easter. It speaks to all the things that I can so easily put aside in “ordinary time”.  I am thankful that during this season particularly, the church helps me to strengthen my religious life with rituals, prayers and devotions that draw me closer to Jesus’ message to me, and to all of us.  “Come, stay with me, pray with me, remember me”.

Campus Minister Joe Van Volkenburg reflects on what Lent means to him:

The word Lent means Spring and new life.  It means a lot of others too.  Lent is a time of barren trees, branches that are exposed.  In mid-March, in this area of the country, one only needs to look at the woods while on a walk or passing by in a car while on the Thruway and to see how everything is exposed.  The same is true for us during the season of Lent.  Lent allows us to look at the desert.  We find we are faced with the stark reality of our own lives.  Lent is a time that strips us of our self delusion.  How we are and how we wish to become.   One of the things that all the world religions share is that we are not self sufficient and how we are all finite.  Dependence on God frees us of self-sufficiency and consumerism.  One of the great sources of strength for the enemy is consumerism.  Fasting and almsgiving helps us see clearly. 

Soon the long walk in the desert or in the barren woods gives way to Spring and new life.   But first we need to die to our ways that separate us from our usefulness to God and others.  Death and resurrection before Spring and new life.  

Campus Minister Lu Firestone reflects on what this passage from Isaiah means to her:

For Lent this year, I am focusing on almsgiving as a way to promote justice.  Now almsgiving is usually associated with charity, which implies meeting the immediate needs of the suffering – feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless – and all these things are important.  But the prophet Isaiah urges us also to loose the chains of injustice, to untie the cords of the yoke and to set the oppressed free!  This justice is different from charity.  Justice tries to get at the root cause of a problem in order to address it, asking “Why are these people hungry?  Why are they naked?  Why are they homeless?”  The solutions are usually slower but more sustainable.  Think of the old adage that goes something like – “If I give a person a fish, she eats for a day.  If I teach her to fish, she eats for her life.” 

So to give alms as a way to promote justice, I am choosing to engage in micro-lending to the poor through the website KIVA (http://www.kiva.org/).  This website works directly with entrepreneurs all over the world who have an idea to develop a business to support their families but who are too poor to qualify for traditional loans from banks.  Usually all they need is a loan of somewhere between $300-$600.  There are pictures and stories of each person in need on the KIVA website.  You can choose to donate as little as $25 to support a person’s loan request and then over the course of the year they will repay you – which they all do very faithfully.  And the best part is that once your money is repaid, you can re-loan it again to someone in need!  So this is a sustainable way to give and by supporting someone who is developing a business, I am supporting their road out of poverty.  My commitment each week during the Lenten season is to donate to a different person in need on the KIVA site.

Lent begins By United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

Our observance of Lent begins this year on March 9, Ash Wednesday, a day of fast and abstinence for Catholics. At Mass on Ash Wednesday, the imposition of ashes replicates an ancient penitential practice and symbolizes our dependence upon God's mercy and forgiveness. During Lent, the baptized are called to renew their baptismal commitment as others prepare to be baptized through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, a period of learning and discernment for individuals who have declared their desire to become Catholics. The three traditional pillars of Lenten observance are prayer, fasting and almsgiving. The Church asks us to surrender ourselves to prayer and to the reading of Scripture, to fasting and to giving alms. The fasting that all do together on Fridays is but a sign of the daily Lenten discipline of individuals and households: fasting for certain periods of time, fasting from certain foods, but also fasting from other things and activities. Likewise, the giving of alms is some effort to share this world equally¡Xnot only through the distribution of money, but through the sharing of our time and talents. The key to fruitful observance of these practices is to recognize their link to baptismal renewal. We are called not just to abstain from sin during Lent but to true conversion of our hearts and minds as followers of Christ. We recall those waters in which we were baptized into Christ¡¦s death, died to sin and evil, and began new life in Christ. On the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' website, you will find a variety of suggestions and resources to support your Lenten practice, enhance your prayer, and embrace your baptismal commitment. The calendar at right provides daily suggestions for action, reading, reflection and prayer.

ALMSGIVING

• People are by nature generous, and will help others if given the opportunity to do so in a transparent, accountable way.
• The poor are highly motivated and can be very successful when given an opportunity.
• By connecting people we can create relationships beyond financial transactions, and build a global community expressing support and encouragement of one another.

FASTING
Carbon fast
Earth Hour

RETREATS
Check out Canisius retreats here.
Loyola Press offers a 3-minute daily retreat.
Learn about creating a "sacred space" in your daily life here.
Consider doing a longer, online retreat with Creighton University.
Yale Divinity School: Mobilizing Faith, Fighting Poverty
Jesuit Refugee Services (JRS) invites participants to try an online retreat that was offered to the first generation of JRS team members in Southeast Asia to bring the overwhelming challenges of their apostolic work to the Lord in prayer.