Lent at ASA

Today marks the beginning of Lent. Our K-8 students will attend Mass this morning and our preschool students will receive ashes from Fr. Tom Page. The ASA theme this year for Lent is Walking with Jesus. 

Each Monday of Lent, students will reflect on the topics below and write their answers on paper footprints to be displayed in the hallway: 

• Monday, March 7 - Almsgiving: I will show kindness by . . . Each student will have a pathway board of good deeds to do at home. 
• Monday, March 14 - Prayer: I will pray for . . . Teachers will incorporate prayer intentions in their classrooms. 
• Monday, March 21 - Fasting: I will abstain from . . . / I will avoid . . . Students will be encouraged to abstain from/avoid something concrete or a behavior. 
• Early Childhood - Our early childhood students will reflect on the following question each week: “What was a way you were kind like Jesus today?” 

Teachers will incorporate various activities in their classroom to help students understand the season of Lent and the events of Holy Week. Students at the Upper Campus will also have an opportunity to go to confession during the Lenten season. 

Our K-2 teachers hope to depict the Via Dolorosa, the path Jesus walked to his crucifixion, throughout the hallways of our campuses on Holy Thursday. The start of the walk will include signs that remind them that a life with Christ is a journey. As the students draw closer to the cross, posters will depict the Stations of the Cross and Holy Week. The purple footprints created throughout Lent will be found in between the posters that follow the path to the death of Jesus. This will occur as a reflection before our Via Dolorosa day on Holy Thursday where students will walk in groups between the Upper and Lower Campus. 

Families are invited to practice Lent at home by fasting, almsgiving, and praying through the Lenten family calendar. Loyola Press also provides various articles and activities to engage in Lent at home as a family. Lastly, families should check the calendars and bulletins of our four founding parishes to learn more about opportunities for Stations of the Cross, Confession, Adoration, & Fish Frys. 

We pray for all our families, parishioners, and students to have a fruitful Lenten session as they walk with Jesus!