Best of the Week 2020-2021: Holy Cross Values

ST. ED'S CELEBRATES ASH WEDNESDAY; COMMUNITY MEMBERS SHARE DAILY REFLECTIONS FOR THE LENTEN SEASON

Despite a shortened week, St. Ed's was still able to celebrate Ash Wednesday as a community with a virtual mass and a COVID-safe distribution of ashes, adopting the European tradition of sprinkling ashes over one's head. Student Ministers assisted with distributing ashes to fellow Edsmen, faculty and staff members around the building. This year, to connect the community through prayer during the Lenten season, Student Ministers came up with the idea to share out weekly reflection booklets with daily excerpts and reflection prompts provided by different faculty members and students from all grade levels. "Writing a reflection can be a hard thing to do, and I was very happy to see so many students and adults take on this opportunity," says Campus Minister Cari White. "I think this reflection book is a welcome opportunity to hear from a number of different community members, and is a chance to think about Lenten gospel reflections from different perspectives." Compiled by Ian Fairfield '22 and John Schultz '22, the Lenten Reflection weekly booklets are intended to help remind the community of how, even in a year of uneasiness, St. Ed's has persevered through it all.

"When Ms. White first approached John and me about the idea for a Lenten reflection book, we knew this would be more than a simple booklet of cookie-cutter reflections that talk about the traditions of Lent and what it means in a general sense," says Ian. "We decided that this book should be a collection that represents not just the importance of Lent by a means of tradition, but the importance of the grouping of individuals' reflections to connect the entirety of the school. These reflections do not come from those of a uniform religion, race, or gender, but from one singular community. The one thing that has remained constant in the lives of those who have written these reflections is the St. Edward community. It is our hope that upon reading this book and allowing a piece of each person who wrote reflections to be imparted to you, that you allow their words to bring you a sense of community and the strength that has persisted at St. Ed's." Click here to read the first week of reflections contributed to the 2021 Lenten Reflection booklet.