By Elliott Nace | Staff Writer
The university hosted a variety of Ash Wednesday services across campus. In addition to services held at Elliston Chapel, ashes were given out at the Bobo Spiritual Life Center and on Fountain Mall.
Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of the liturgical season of Lent with a cross of burned palm upon the forehead, brought campus together towards Christian repentance and the exploration of new spiritual practices ahead of Easter.
Dr. Malcolm Foley, pastor at Mosaic Waco and Baylor’s special advisor to the president for equity and campus engagement, said Ash Wednesday brings to bear the need for further self-reflection and humility in Christian circles.
“Even to have something physical — like ashes on your forehead — is, I think, an important practice,” Foley said. “When I think about Lent and the practice especially of fasting, it’s a reminder of our dependence on the Lord for all things.”
The outward signs of Ash Wednesday foster community at a vital period in the liturgical year, Foley said.
“In a world that constantly pushes us towards self-sufficiency, that in many ways breathes a kind of competition between us, to be reminded, especially of our dependence on the Lord, but also our dependence on one another,” Foley said. “Whatever practices help us cultivate those virtues are worth it.”
The sense of community seen on Ash Wednesday also lends to increased evangelization. Rory Mitchell, team director of Catholic FOCUS missionaries, mentioned that Ash Wednesday can act as a way to introduce students to spiritual practices such as Bible studies and going to church.
“People are looking for ways to get more involved in their faith, but I find that they’re just a bit more real and vulnerable with you during that time,” Mitchell said. “Ash Wednesday truly is a call to repentance, and the Book of Joel which we hear every Ash Wednesday [tells us] that we should rend our hearts, not our garments, and then Christ tells us to pray, to fast, to give alms. And people take that to heart.”
Foley explained that the model of the Lenten season harkens back to Jesus’ wanderings in the desert and a caution to the reality of temptation.
“Whenever there are temptations to fear and to anxiety and to all those kinds of things, the practice of fasting, specifically impressing us toward prayer and pushing us toward care of the needy, is a reminder of the primary things that Christ has called us to do,” he said.
Mitchell finds personal value in the penitential nature of Ash Wednesday, saying that the Lenten season in particular acts as a yearly opportunity for spiritual renewal.
“Ash Wednesday — and Lent by extension — is a great opportunity to realize and to enter more into the season and understand why Christ died for us and the impacts of that and how I need to repent in order to receive the mercy and the grace that He offers us through the cross,” Mitchell said. “We care so deeply about this season of Lent, and it is when the church and her liturgy shines forth the most.”
Mitchell said the period of prayer and self-reflection that begins on Ash Wednesday may lead to physical and spiritual discomfort at first.
“By the end of Lent, we should be really tired from all these things and [saying] that ‘Okay, I actually need to try and work for my salvation, but I also desperately need the Lord,’” he said.
Foley said that Lenten repentance ultimately roots its observers in the saving work and lifestyle of Christ.
“Lent is in many ways, I think, a reminder of the suffering that we endure through this life,” Foley said. “But also, when we celebrate Easter, it’s a reminder of the joy to which we are going.”
