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Our Lenten theme for 2026 is “Ashes to Alleluia: Lent as the shape of the Christian Life.”
Lent isn’t just a season, rather it is a time to enter into the very rhythm of the Christian life. It is a journey from humility and repentance toward the fulfillment and glory of the resurrection.
The Journey from Ashes to Alleluia!!
It is a privilege to send this message to our entire Holy Cross College community as we begin the season of Lent. Today, Ash Wednesday, marks the beginning of this holy season. Many members of the community will receive ashes at one of our masses today (All are Welcome!). You may see many people around campus, in the offices, classrooms or the gym who have a cross marked on their foreheads from the ashes; this cross from the ashes is publicly displayed as a sign of our Christian faith.
Our season of Lent is a time for personal growth in our faith, and also an opportunity for our entire college community to grow in the life of faith for our campus as well!
The 40 days of Lent remind us of the 40 days in which Jesus spent in the desert – praying, listening to God, and preparing himself for the ability to complete the will of God for him. This was a time of anguish, loneliness and doubt, along with a sense of putting his trust in God for all his needs.
Each of us is invited to create a ‘desert’ over the next 40 days of Lent, when we are asked to dedicate ourselves to prayer, fasting and the care for the poor (almsgiving). Is this something that you believe you can live out here at Holy Cross? How can we dedicate ourselves to special prayer time? Or fasting or abstaining either from a food, or perhaps something in how we spend our leisure time? And, how can we offer ourselves to serve the poor – around us and often right beside us!
My own hopes for Lent include continuing to strive to find God in all things and that my prayer – both in the Chapel and in places on our campus with such beautiful nature we have around us. That I may find ways to purge myself of possessions I no longer need and find a good use for them. And to pray that I am not blind nor deaf to the needs of others around me – that the greeting of a Hello to someone, as well as being attentive to helping even in a small way – will transform me. God has greatly blessed my life to be here at Holy Cross College, and I pray God will continue to show me the best way to serve our community here.
Living out Lent in Community
God’s presence is fully alive on our campus each day – the tremendous people who make Holy Cross their home each day – and who study, serve and labor here. A commitment to living out our Lenten practices together in community allows us to live this Lenten time with more intention and profundity. The witness and example of one another will inspire me, as I expect for you too, to keep this focus for these 40 days.
What do you say? Let’s journey together through these 40 days of Lent … Each of you has much to give and witness to our community! The faith you have to share with others during these days will be a great example for me and others! Albeit your prayer, your own personal sacrifices, and the ways in which you reach out to assist those who have needs – even in the smallest of ways – each one makes these values of Lent lived out and felt!
At the end of our Lenten Journey, will be the celebration of Easter – when we celebrate the Resurrection of Christ! It will be a time of Joy, and can be for our community as well!. The more that we focus on living Lent intentionally, will make the Easter Joy we will experience be profound in every way! Resurrection of Christ and Joy and Hope that brings. I can assure you, the more any of us focuses on Lenten practices, the greater the Joy we will feel when we celebrate Easter! The next weeks will truly bring us to live out from Ashes to Alleluia -starting today on Ash Wednesday through the Easter season!
May each of you be blessed as we begin this journey together. I trust that God will bless our entire campus community during this sacred time! time!
Peace!
Fr. Mike DeLaney, C.S.C., Chaplain,
When discerning and selecting our Lenten theme this year—“Ashes to Alleluia!”—I wanted to focus not only on the 40‑day journey of Lent, but on the entire arc of the Christian life. From the moment we are conceived in the humble form of a pre‑born child until the moment God calls us home, our lives are oriented toward the resurrection. Along this pilgrimage, we are continually invited to live as closely to Christ as we can. For today’s reflection, I want to highlight how the living and effective Word of God shapes and directs that journey toward Jesus.
This Sunday’s Gospel gives us the clearest example of how Jesus Himself uses Scripture to guide His life and resist the evil one. In Matthew 4, Jesus is repeatedly tempted by Satan, giving us a glimpse into the real struggle He embraced by taking on our humanity. Rather than wielding the unimaginable divine power that is His by nature, Christ instead turns to the Word of God. He responds with passages from Deuteronomy—three firm, faithful retorts that silence the tempter and bring Him peace. In doing so, Jesus shows us how the Word can become our own defense, our compass, and our strength as we journey toward the Kingdom prepared for us through His resurrection.
This season, let us recommit ourselves to opening our Bibles and allowing the Word of God to draw us closer to Him. When we allow God to speak, we discover again that His voice is full of mercy, love, and the power to transform our hearts.
+ To God Be The Glory +
Dr. Kevin Myers
Director of Campus Ministry
The Gospel for this second Sunday of Lent is familiar to many of us: the Transformation narrative (Matthew 17:1-9).
Jesus invites three of his disciples to climb up the mountain. Try to put yourself in the position of one of them…
Imagine the physical challenge of getting to the summit (I love a good hike for this reason!). What did they talk about on their way up? Did these friends of Jesus have ANY idea what would happen when they reached the peak? (Remember, in the ‘real time’ of this gospel, Jesus had foretold his Passion to the disciples prior to this – in 16:21.) Did they wonder why only three of them were invited? Pause and reflect on what this would be like for YOU, heading to the mountain top… noticing your pulse and deep breathing as you climb…
Of course, the summit was where Jesus’s appearance was transformed, as Elijah and Moses also appeared to them. God spoke through the clouds: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him.” The friends fell down in fright. Imagine YOUR thoughts and feelings in this truly peak experience (pun intended)!
Often, we live each day, shuffling along, not really noticing what Jesus may be inviting us to do. Are we focused on our phones more than our companions on the journey? Do we try to avoid the very things that invite us to prove our determination? Do we start our Lent with great zeal, only to fall back into old patterns of complacency or numbing, which deny us the opportunity of REALLY seeing what Jesus is doing for us, with us, and in us?
We know that the victorious conclusion of Lent is revealed to us through the suffering, death, and resurrection of Our Lord, Jesus. Talk about a peak experience!
While we are just getting started on our Lenten journey, may we truly embrace the challenge of our spiritual mountain-climbing, in the hopes of our OWN transformation.
Phyllis Florian
Matthew 5:20–26 February 27
Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel are uncomfortable. He isn’t talking about obvious sins or public failures. He’s talking about what’s going on inside—anger, resentment, words spoken in frustration, relationships left fractured. He tells us that righteousness isn’t about looking good on the outside; it’s about letting God reach the hidden places we’d rather ignore.
The ashes on our foreheads at the beginning of lent are an honest admission: something in us needs healing. But Jesus doesn’t leave us in the ashes. He points us toward reconciliation, toward choosing humility over pride, repair over resentment, love over being “right.”
Stress, competition, unresolved conflicts, and quick words spoken online or in person can quietly harden our hearts. Jesus invites us to pause and ask: Who do I need to make peace with? Where am I holding onto anger?
The journey from ashes to alleluia is not about perfection. It’s about honesty, courage, and trust that God can transform even the messiest parts of us. When we choose reconciliation—within ourselves and with others—we make space for resurrection joy and true Easter Alleluia.
Meeghan Mousaw, Library Technician
Third Sunday of Lent
I think we can all relate in some way to the Samaritan woman at the well and her lifestyle of reacting out of fear and shame.
For context, her interaction as a Samaritan with the Jews made one ritually unclean: “For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans” (John 4:9). With her complicated marital status, her reputation made her an outcast in her own society (John 4:16-18). The Samaritan woman is accustomed to this routine of drawing water at a time when the well is empty (despite the hot sun making the process of carrying water home extremely difficult) in order to avoid the crowd of other women gathering water in the cool morning, to avoid the accusations, to avoid the snickering, and to avoid the shame.
She is surprised to find a Jewish man, Jesus, at the empty well during the hottest part of the day. She is even more surprised when he actually addresses her and dedicates part of his time and attention to engaging in conversation with her. Once Jesus makes her feel included in something bigger outside of her self-doubts, she gains the confidence to go back to her town, to the same people that look down at her reputation, and pour out love to them all. She is able to do this all because Jesus replenished in her soothing love.
My favorite part is when she asks Jesus: “Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water” (John 4:15). How many times do you turn to the same vices for a sense of relief, however brief it may be? How many times do you avoid a task out of fear of rejection or complication? Jesus invites us to break free from our dry, monotonous, shameful routine and to accept his invitation to a blooming life for: “whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14).
Maria Gorecki
pring break falling during the season of Lent always presents a bit of a challenge. On the one hand we are halfway through the semester and due for a much-needed break filled with rest, relaxation and time away from our routine. On the other hand, we have made commitments of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving for the Lenten season. It may be difficult to think about how your Lenten practices are going to fit into what your break entails with travel, spending time with family and friends, etc. My advice is to go gently.
Lent is not about having the picture perfect 40 days where you have checked every box and done everything “right.” It is about recognizing our need for Christ.
So, your Spring Break may look different than your on-campus Lent. Perhaps it is being less self-reliant and recognizing your need for others or to take time for rest. It may mean that you shift your fasting from something that would disrupt family life. Or it could mean not arguing with your siblings.
When I consider the champions of the Christian Life, the saints, who have given us an example of how to live Lent, I turn to St. Pier Georgio Frassatti. I like to think he would have encouraged his friends who were climbing a mountain with him over Spring Break to do so in a way that made that climb healthy and a chance to encounter Christ, rather than stick to something that might end up hurting them and leading them astray.
Go gently this Spring break, trusting that Christ will reveal to you how you need him this week even if it’s different than the Lent you had planned.
Tricia McCarthy
The Gospel this past Sunday spoke of Jesus at the well with the Samaritan woman, a story that Catholics of all ages may be familiar with. However, my favorite part of the reading takes place just after, when the Apostles return to Jesus with food they had gotten for him in town, but Jesus says, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” I can’t help but recall the episode of the Chosen that enacts this part, where the apostle Andrew replies with a genuinely confused, “Who got you food?”
This moment, while comedic, exemplifies the way we as imperfect humans fail to look deeper into the words of our God, or even the world in general. The season of Lent encourages us to dig deeper into our hearts, to look beyond menial parts of our lives and find more meaning. Not everyone needs to be a philosopher who questions every word or an artist who tries to find the message behind a banana taped to the wall, but rather, one needs to pay more attention and not take everything at a surface level.
So, when you go to mass, don’t just listen idly to Gospel. Take the time to think and reflect on it. Reflect before, during and after, taking in the words and really digging deep into their meaning. Every word from the mouth of God has value and was spoken for a reason. Just really listen.
Amelia K Plaspohl
You are called. Called by name. Not only is your name known to the Father, but the Father knows you, and everything you have done. He knows every smile, every stifled laugh, every dream, every hope, every moment filled with joy, and He was there smiling, laughing, dreaming, and hoping with you. He was also there when you frowned, when you cried, when you cursed, when you struggled, and when you chose to turn away from his comforting embrace. Despite whatever you are experiencing, he wants you to recognize that He is with you always. Ask the Lord to bring stillness to your heart. Trust in the Lord, He will guide you to the right path. Matthew 11:28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy burdened, and I will give you rest.
This past weekend I was surrounded by a wonderful community of sisters on a discernment retreat, and they reminded me of God’s great love for His children. It is up to us individually to give our all to God, and not to hold ourselves back, as this sacrifice of self is life giving. He knows everything we have done. So why do we hold on to our burdens He has already carried for us on the cross? Lent is an opportunity to contemplate Jesus’ death on the cross, but also to prepare for the Resurrection. Jesus exemplified by His life, death, and resurrection that we must come and follow Christ so that we can die with Him (through dying to ourselves), and live.
Lucie Tinervia