Lent: a time of grieving, a time to wash away the sins, and a time of self reflection. Lent is the 40 days in between the start of lent and Easter, where we grieve Jesus’s death. The reason we celebrate this time is because Jesus died on the cross for us and during those 40 days he was dead and then resurrects on the day of Easter. There are many different ways we celebrate in these 40 days of Lent.  One way we celebrate is giving something up for lent just as Jesus gave his life.  This means giving up sweets, screen time, or addictions. You can also add something to your life, such as exercising, getting good grade, or having a better diet. There are many ways to go about it and there’s no right practice, it’s solely up to the person.

The different days we celebrate for Lent start with shrove Tuesday. Also known as Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday, this day is the day to feast, to eat all the food you own, mostly meats, and go crazy. The day after begins a fasting time, which then lasts until Ash Wednesday, when you go to church and mourn the death of Jesus. You get ashes on your forehead to symbolize the ashes of Jesus. “Ashes to ashes, Dust to dust” are words said as the pastor places the cross on your forehead. Along with these days there’s also Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Saturday. These are the days leading up to Easter Sunday where we wash the sins, gather the community, and praise the lord. So with this I lead to asking some people their thoughts and comments on lent.

Connor Rice, LHS senior, confirmed that he is a Catholic boy and Lent means a lot to him. The 40 days during which Jesus was dead fill him with gratitude and soothe his soul. Connor also added that during this time he spends time everyday praying before he sleeps and grieving Jesus’ death. He adds for Lent he will be giving up cussing and bad habits, but has failed cussing the first 3 days in and failed his bad habits the first week in. Connor is not proud of the choices he’s made, he feels he has failed Jesus and let his family friends down. But he will move on, keep his head up, and fight through for Jesus. For next year Connor says jokingly, “Instead of giving anything up I will be taking back the holy land for my Catholic community.” Connor finishes with inspiration by stating, “through God all things are possible.”

Victor Parks, another senior at Lafayette high school, reports that as a non religious man he  doesn’t have many feeling on this topic.  Although he does not follow God in his life, he says he respects the idea Lent as a time for reflection and discipline, and thinks it promotes good values. Victor states that he is an agnostic.  As such, he doesn’t believe in God and doesn’t follow any particular religion for there is no proof.  He continues with saying, “As Lent comes around each year I like to participate on giving something up, because it’s a good time to work on myself.”

With all said and done, Lent is an important time for the Christian world and for myself. It has a lot of meaning and good reflection time for my family, friends, and me. I will continue to stay strong to what I have given up and added and can’t wait for the day of resurrection.  I always look forward to celebrating Easter for it is my favorite holiday. My religion is a big part of my life and I will continue it throughout my life. I finish with saying, Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again.