Traditionally, people consider Lent as a time of fasting. Whether it’s giving up chocolate, fast food or TV, it’s a time when people are supposed to challenge themselves and do something difficult.
Although this is true, Lent consists of so much more. It is a time of fasting, prayer and almsgiving. It is also a time of doing, experiencing and growing.
Layla Torres ‘23 deleted Instagram and Facebook for Lent. While this change in her life has been hard, it has really helped her focus on other things, such as exercising, spending time with her sister and her pets, having more free time and feeling more positive about herself.
“It was a good decision for me because Instagram is polarizing and draws you away from reality. Deleting it has helped me to love people more by separating the person from the profile,” Torres said. “Lent is giving up or doing an action that brings you closer to God. Participating in Lent has helped me to forget the product, and focus on the creator.”
Brianne Pennington, Xavier’s campus minister, is following a similar Lenten journey as Torres. She says that she is also giving up social media, along with news, sweets and alcohol.
Pennington states that, especially after Lent is over, she realizes that she doesn’t actually need many of these things in her life.
Because the age we live in revolves around media consumption, giving up social media for Lent has become more common. Many people know that they need to take a break, but just need a little push to do it.
This is why many people choose to give up Snapchat or Instagram for Lent. They know they don’t need it and they realize its harm.
However, abstinence is not the only option when it comes to Lent.
Pennington mentions how not only is she fasting from things like media and sweets, but she has also added 30 minutes of intentional prayer to her daily routine.
Lent is not just about giving up, but also doing. We can choose to pray, volunteer, build our connection with God, and much more.
We are all so busy, but it is not impossible to do something during Lent. Some ideas could be praying for five extra minutes per day, choosing not to go to Starbucks and instead giving the money to someone who needs it, reaching out to old friends or being more intentional with our friendships.
Lent has a special and unique meaning to every person.
Pennington says the meaning of Lent to her is “a time to redress my relationship with Jesus. It’s the best time to step away from things I know I don’t need and focus on being more productive and intentional.”
Emma Delghiaccio ‘24 says, “The beautiful thing about Lent to me is that it can be something private or public.” She says that what you choose to do isn’t exactly a “secret” but that it can be something private between you and God.
Delghiaccio had no idea many of her friends were doing anything or giving up something for Lent, and was pleasantly surprised to find out how many people participated.
Lent is a reflective time to grow, achieve goals and find ourselves and our relationship with God.
