The Catholic Church has entered a new liturgical season—Lent! A lot of people see this period of time as a blessing, but also a struggle, as people have given up their favorite things.

Senior Eli Fogarty is giving up listening to any music that isn’t Christian Music. He is also going to adoration once a week, hoping to further his relationship with God.  

“I am doing only Christian music because that means every time I drive I think about God or anytime I listen to music in general I think of God. It is just a little something to help remind me that God is present with me,” Fogarty said.

Junior Caroline Cunningham is working on not complaining, and only drinking water. Our caffeine addictions are real, people—maybe it’s time for a break!

“I’ve been working on controlling how much I complain about little things, and I think by offering it up in daily prayer I can break my habit and grow deeper in my faith by turning to Jesus for help,” Cunningham said.

Religion teacher, Mr. Winkelmann also gave up sodas for lent. He usually has a soda a day, so this is actually a pretty big sacrifice for him. He is also doing a devotional reading every day to spend a little more time with God during this Lent in prayer.

“I am giving up soda because I love soda and so sacrificing something that I love, even if it’s silly, connects me in a way to the cross and the sacrifice of Christ,” Mr. Winkelmann said.

Social Media was a very popular, but nonetheless effective Lenten promise! We’re all addicted to our devices these days, so a 40-day break could be just what we need.

Sophomore Kinsley Dare is giving up TikTok and doing everything she can to keep her screen time down. She is also going to mass in the St. Dominic chapel once a week! Senior Maddie Lepp is also going to try going to weekly mass, and she is giving up fast food.

Senior Andrew Belarde is going above and beyond by giving up his phone for lent. This includes all social media, games and YouTube.

“I get really distracted with my phone by spending countless hours on it every day, so I am ridding myself of that distraction this Lent. I also want to take that free time that I will have and do something meaningful with it, which includes a lot of reading, prayer and focusing on things that will build me up. So far it has been very miserable, which means that I am doing it right,” Belarde said.

Campus Minister, Mr. Struttmann said he was going to limit the amount of time he is on Instagram and Twitter. He spends a lot of time on his phone, as we all do, and he is planning on cutting back.

“I want to spend less time on my phone in general, and that will definitely help,” Mr. Struttmann said.

Lent is a great way to make the sacrifices that you think will bring you closer to God. How is your lent going?