Lent at CM—by Michael Flaherty '08

Before I came to CM in seventh grade, Lent was never an annual practice or tradition for me. I would decide to give up something but never follow through throughout the 40 days. I remember in my first year at CM, in seventh grade, I still found Lent to be just part of Catholic tradition and never analyzed the meaning behind the practices we have in our faith. When I first started giving up things in seventh grade, it was material that wasn't exactly important to me. Now, by my senior year, for anyone who knows me, knows I can't live without soda. To sacrifice soda for Lent was my quest and I'm in the process of doing that right now!

In the past six years, being more mature and a member of this community, I've started to take Lent more seriously. At CM, of course, Lent begins with Ash Wednesday. We go to mass and receive a sign of our devotion to the Lenten season. For the rest of the day, you feel embarrassed with a large black stigma on your forehead for all your friends and classmates to see. But the faithful in our community see it as a declaration of faith and sacrifice.

Towards the end of Lent, before Good Friday, we have our Stations of the Cross service. It's much better of an experience to see the stations acted out rather than to read about them. I remember this one time, my sophomore year, when a French teacher played the role of one of the three "wailing women" who helped Jesus on the way of the cross. Seeing her in that role showed to me the enthusiasm that went into putting the Stations of the Cross together. I always thought of it as something the school just made us do. Now I see people getting something meaningful out of it.

As Easter approaches, families celebrate sacrifices that not only Jesus made but also ones that we have made that are now coming to an end. Of course, the four day weekend for the holiday never hurt anyone either!