La Lumiere Celebrates Ash Wednesday

To celebrate Ash Wednesday, La Lumiere students and faculty gathered in the Fine Arts Building with Fr. Lou DelFra, C.S.C, who serves as the Director of Pastoral Life for the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) at Notre Dame. The Ash Wednesday Mass marks the beginning of the season of Lent.

“Lent is a 40-day period of preparation leading up to the great celebration of Easter. Lent provides an opportunity for transformation and growth as we journey onward together in hope. It was a privilege to begin this journey at La Lumiere by worshipping together as a community,” Megan Effron, the Director of Faith Exploration at La Lumiere, said. 

Fr. Lou, who served as the guest presider for the mass, reflected on the story of Matthew and encouraged the attendees to recognize that one’s weakness is not what defines them. “Matthew is not to be remembered for all time as the tax collector, even though moments before this Gospel occurred, he could not see a way out of this identity. No, Matthew is to be remembered as a disciple of Christ. Not by his past, but by his discipleship. Not by his sin, but by his service. Not by his weakness, but by his Gospel – The story he wrote of the person who called him away, into the light, into the building up of the kingdom of God,” Fr. Lou preached. 

One slight variation to this year’s Ash Wednesday service was that ashes were sprinkled on the top of the head instead of having the sign of the cross marked on one’s forehead, which is congruent with how ashes have always been distributed in Rome and the practice has been adopted across the United States during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The liturgy was planned by students on the Faith Council, many of whom participated in the Mass as ushers or lectors. In addition, Elise Clark ‘23 performed a meditative violin piece during the service. 

For more information about La Lumiere's Faith Exploration, please contact Head of School Adam Kronk.