By Tim Marren

On Wednesday Mass was celebrated in the Student Union Assembly Hall at noon and ashes were distributed to those participating to mark the beginning of Lent.

Ash Wednesday is the beginning of the 40 day period in which Catholics prepare to celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus which culminates on Easter Sunday.

“Lent is when a person can individually and in community get him/herself right with God,” said Jon Neureuther Newman Center Campus Minister. “It is a preparation for the great season of Easter, the holiest time of the year for Catholic church.”

The Newman Center has made Lenten practices available to every Buffalo State student. Each Friday at noon during Lent Mass will be celebrated in the Student Union, Room 419.

The Newman Center is handing out rice bowls that pattern the Lenten belief of prayer, fasting and alms giving, according to Neureuther.

Neureuther said that Lent is when everyone can participate in programs and in some way get in the right relationship with God.

Catholic Relief Services provides the cardboard bowls that feature a prayer, photo of a needy child and slot for loose change. Each day the participant can pray the prayer on the rice bowl and fast for one meal during that day. The money they would normally use toward that one meal is now deposited in the rice bowl for the needy.

At Easter time the bowls are turned into the Newman Center and given to Catholic Relief Services. Twenty-five percent of the funds raised stay local and 75 percent goes worldwide.

The goal for this years rice bowl drive is $100. Last year $76 was raised.

Regulations

According to information provided from the Newman Center two of the main regulations to follow during Lent are as follows:

• Abstinence: Catholics 14 or older are to abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and all Fridays during Lent.
• Fasting: Catholics between the ages of 18 and 60 must also observe the law of the fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday (the Friday before Easter). This includes a limit of just one full meal on these days and only light sustenance during the day.

Student opinion

Student Sarah Sonnenberg treats Lent as a time of reflection.

“It is a time to think about changes you can make to better your life and the lives around you,” said Sonnenberg, a sophomore social work major.

Link:
Diocese of Buffalo