Symbolic time of sacrifice, service begins for Christians

Many Christians in Northwest Indiana worshiped in churches to observe Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent — a sacred period of spiritual preparation.

Lent is centered around the liturgical 40 days prior to Easter when Jesus is believed to have fasted in the desert and endured temptation from Satan.

It is a time when many Christians traditionally give up temptations of their own, such as chocolate, popcorn or other treats, in a symbolic act of renunciation. Members of some denominations, such as Catholicism, traditionally abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and on Fridays during Lent.

In recent years, observers of Lent have celebrated in other meaningful ways that encourage thinking of others, so community service quickly is becoming part of the spiritual practice.

Dan Keilman, a parishioner at St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Church in Valparaiso, studied to be a priest before becoming a teacher, counselor, state education administrator and principal in Duneland School Corp. He said he has a history of making more traditional sacrifices such as not eating meat, but taking care of others takes more devotion.

"I give up my selfishness," Keilman said. "I plan a week ahead of time how I will make life better for a person in the community every day. People I haven't contacted in a long time, I reconnect with a phone call or a letter. And during Lent I donate to colleges I've attended."

Debbie Bosak, communications director for the Catholic Diocese of Gary, said the change in the Catholic Church came after the Second Vatican Council modernized practices in the mid-1960s.

"There was a shift from giving something up, to using the season to make our spiritual life deeper and help others," she said. "Catholics still fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday and refrain from eating meat on Fridays during Lent, not because it's a sin if we don't, but because it's a part of joining in with the suffering of Jesus and people around the world who don't have enough to eat and don't have clean drinking water, so it's a sense of solidarity."

She said some Catholics participate in more prayer and devotional readings at church, but they also do community service.

"Many families will go work in soup kitchens or food pantries, so that everyone is better for the experience," Bosak said.

At First United Methodist Church in Crown Point, Senior Pastor Mark Wilkins said Lent is about "putting away and putting on" for his parishioners.

"It's a time to put away the junk in our lives because Lent is a mirror," Wilkins said. "It's difficult to look at our lives. But then it's also a hopeful time, to put on more in our lives, through community service work or more prayer, to put something good into us."

Valparaiso University students hear a special speaker during Tuesday and Friday morning services at the chapel during the Lenten season.

The program, called What's Your Part, features speakers who address the theme of what service means during Lent. Charlene Cox, the university's pastor, speaks Fridays, and assistant professor of nursing Amy Cory talks Tuesdays from her experience of leading students to Central America for service work.

For Keilman, Lent is about sacrificing for others and nurturing rebirth and growth.

"The glory of the season is the fact that you have given yourself to a bigger cause than yourself, so Lent is about giving back to people," Keilman said.