By Maggie Meegan | Reporter
Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent are right around the corner. As students and faculty across Baylor’s campus acknowledge and participate in this season, spiritual leaders urge students to prepare their minds and hearts before the season begins.
Ash Wednesday is next week; ashes will be distributed across campus for students running between classes. It’s a solemn day that highlights the need for reconciliation with God, according to Britannica. In past years, Baylor hosted several services around campus for students to receive ashes.
Rebecca Kennedy, assistant dean of Spiritual Life, has seen 29 years of Baylor students participate in Ash Wednesday. Kennedy suggested that students acknowledge this season as an example of what Jesus was practicing when he was wandering in the wilderness for 40 days.
“We think about what we’re sacrificing, but it’s also what we’re gaining,” Kennedy said. “I think a lot of Christians who do practice Lent, maybe they don’t think about that element. Because if you think about Jesus being in the wilderness, what he was doing was observing spiritual practices. He was in silence, he was in solitude, he was in prayer.”
Dr. Sara Barton, associate chaplain and director of pastoral care at Baylor, encouraged students to lean into what Lent invites and gives to Christians during this time.
“We need what Lent invites, and we know we need what Lent invites,” Barton said. “We need more repentance, we need to give up things that control us [and] we need to do more good works in the world.”
Ash Wednesday marks a time for renewal and community to billions of Christians around the world, literally and spiritually. There is a connection between the person distributing ashes and those receiving them that makes a connection from Christian to Christian that is special and undeniable, Barton said.
“Taking part in giving ashes to people who come and seeing repentant, expectant people humble themselves and remember that we are dust and to dust we shall return — I find that a very humanizing experience,” Barton said. “Just looking in the eyes of the people who come for ashes, seeing the tears on some people’s faces, I think it is a beautiful experience.”
