Catholic students at PSU tell their Lenten plans

by Dylan Waggoner

Pittsburg, Kan — Catholic students on the Pittsburg State University campus are experiencing new challenges and fruits for their labors as they get into the full swing of the Lenten season.

This year’s start to the Lenten season had Ash Wednesday overlapping with Valentine’s Day. Valentine’s Day tends to be a day of chocolate, nice dinners and cute evening dates. Ash Wednesday is the complete opposite, kicking off the Lenten season and the fasting that comes with it.

The nice chocolate you get from your significant other will probably get thrown out if your fast for the season was to give up chocolate. The nice dinner you were hoping to have will probably need to be foregone. Ash Wednesday, in the Catholic tradition, is a day of abstinence from most meats and a limiting of food intake. The cute evening date might also need to be foregone. Many Catholic churches, including the church on the Pitt State campus, celebrate the Ash Wednesday mass in the evening, thus taking up the time slot that would have been used for a romantic movie or a walk downtown.

Not all Catholic students experienced this dichotomy. Jaephi Patterson, one such student, said this year wasn’t all that different for her.

“I have no significant other,” Patterson said, “so this was just a normal Ash Wednesday.”

Father Derek Thome, the chaplain for the St. Pious X Catholic Student Center on Pitt State campus acknowledged that these potential sacrifices were being considered by students. Still, he said that there were far deeper considerations that should be focused on.

“In the homily I said that this season of Lent needs to be a season love,” Thome said. “We need to have sacrificial love.”

Catholic PSU student Matthew Schmidt said he noticed a similar need in this season of Lent.

“Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day being on the same day brings them both into mind,” Schmidt said. “It reminds us of Christ’s love and the love we should have for each other.”

According to Church tradition, the three aspects of Lent are prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Many parishes have community prayer in the form of the Stations of the Cross on Friday evenings. The Catholic Student Center conforms to this tradition, holding an opportunity to participate in the Stations every Friday at 6:30 PM. Thome said that he is preached an emphasis on the necessity of adoration during the Lenten season.

Patterson said she was focusing on personal prayer devotions for the Lenten seasons.

“I am doing a 54-day novena that I started just before Lent,” Patterson said.

Schmidt said he was going to be doing a holy hour every day for Lent.

“I usually start my holy hour with a rosary,” Schmidt said.

Schmidt also said he would be going to mass as often as he could with intention and is reading through the book “Remade for Happiness” by Fulton J. Sheen.

Another aspect of the Lenten season is fasting/abstinence. During Lent, Catholics give up something, or multiple things, that are either “good” or “neutral” in remembrance of Jesus’ 40-day fast and temptation in the wilderness. Things given up can be as simple as not consuming sweets to severely limiting one’s intake of food for the whole season. Catholic PSU students are giving up things that make sense in our current time.

Olivia Sanders, another such PSU student, is limiting social media.

“I’m giving up, or at least trying to reduce, Instagram reels and TikTok,” Sanders said.

Fr. Derek said that this was a common thing among the students he had spoken to.

Schmidt is giving up some of his electronic accessories.

“I normally have an Apple Watch on, but I’m giving it up for Lent,” Schmidt said. “I was listening to a sermon the other day and it said what we give up for Lent should ‘poke’ us or we should notice it every now and then. I definitely notice that my watch is gone every time I go to check for the time.”

Patterson said she would be limiting the music she listens to.

“I don’t know if this really counts as fasting, but I’m only listening to Christian and worship music,” Patterson said.

The final aspect of the Lenten season is almsgiving. This is the giving of goods and services to those in need. Many people donate money, old clothing, non-perishable food, and their time for those less fortunate than themselves.

For Schmidt, some attitudes need to be kept in mind during Lent.

“We need to be aware of others in need,” Schmidt said.