Ash Wednesday on Campus

Greetings Newman Community!

​Just as the new semester is finding a steady rhythm, Lent is about to begin and shake it up. I have always appreciated the focus the Lenten season brings to my spiritual life, and the heightened communal awareness of the spiritual life. There is a perceptible energy abuzz on Ash Wednesday that is noticeable on campus. As in years past, we will offer two Ash Wednesday Masses on campus in the ballrooms on the third floor of the Corbett Center, at 12:30 and 5:30 pm. We anticipate a full space, filled with faculty, staff and students ready to embark on their journey through lent. I am always uplifted seeing so many faces taking time out of their busy Wednesday to gather for prayer and introspective reflection. Those same faces so eager to meet the Lenten call to prayer, fasting and almsgiving! My hope and prayer is that we all will render our hearts to God, so that they may be filled with the Love and Mercy of Christ. 

Peace, 
Sal

A Prayer for Lenten Simplicity
Free me, Lord Jesus, from anything that obstructs my way to you. Clear Away the clutter of petty grudges. Remove smudges of resentment and bitterness. Cleanse me of the thoughts filled with anger, envy, or self-pity. Create space in my life for more kindness and less spitefulness, greater generosity and few self-centered needs, stronger compassion and weakened judgment of others. Enlarge my heart with a spirit of gratitude this Lent, so that I recognize the simple gifts that lay in abundance all around me. In your holy name I pray. Amen.