This Lenten season, members of the Boston College community will offer weekly reflections to help you prepare for Easter.
Easter Sunday Reflection
Happy Easter! Today we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, while also finding strength and drawing inspiration from the faith Christ’s disciples had in Him. Today’s gospel follows Mary Magdalene and Peter as they each discover the empty tomb. They believed, but did not yet understand that Jesus had risen from the dead.
View past reflections
Palm Sunday Reflection
Holy Week is here, and the drama of the gospel is coming to a head. Today’s reading follows Christ’s entrance into a Jerusalem eager to greet and glorify him. Heralded with palm reeds and cheers, He knew in the space of a week He’d be betrayed, reviled, and crucified in this same city. Still He said yes.
Fifth Sunday of Lent Reflection
As the days grow longer and brighter, and grass shoots break through the soil, today’s readings encourage us to seek renewal in our spiritual lives. “See, I am doing something new!” the Lord says through the Prophet Isaiah. “Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” These last few weeks of Lent, we are invited to embrace the newness and vitality of the living God.
Fourth Sunday of Lent Reflection
At the halfway point of our Lenten journey, Faith Payson ’22 considers the parable of the prodigal son from the older brother’s perspective. “Are you envious because I am generous?” the father asks his loyal, accomplished, and jealous elder son. We too must grapple with that question. During this season of fasting, we’re called to remove distractions in order to recognize the innumerable kindnesses the Lord provides us every day.
Third Sunday of Lent Reflection
We’re well into the Lenten journey, and Faith Payson ’22 encourages us in today’s reflection to rely on the Lord as well as our brothers and sisters for strength through this season of sacrifice and struggle. Often defined by absence, Lent gives us a chance to carve out distractions and focus on what matters most: the people around us, and our Emmanuel, God with us.
Second Sunday of Lent Reflection
This second Sunday of Lent, Faith Payson ’22 shares the difficulties many students wrestle with—from anxiety and distraction to sheer exhaustion—and how to use this Lenten season to recalibrate our priorities. When we make room in our busy lives for the Lord, we’re able to hear and heed what he wants to tell us, and so become “fully awake” as the apostles in today’s Gospel.
First Sunday of Lent Reflection
On this first Sunday of the Lent, School of Theology and Ministry Associate Professor Andrew R. Davis asks us to confront life as it comes to us: with a host of challenges, as well as blessings we often have to make an effort to notice and appreciate. Or, as theologian GK Chesterton put it, “We’re all in the same boat, and we’re all seasick.” No matter what we’re facing this week, though, the Lord’s promise to us remains the same—“I am with you always.”
Ash Wednesday Reflection
Ash Wednesday is here, and with it comes the first of the Boston College Alumni Association’s Lenten reflections. Today, with ash-marked brows reminding us of our mortality, we’re challenged by School of Theology and Ministry Associate Professor Andrew R. Davis to pause, look inward, and consider our own fragility.
Pray It Forward
During Lent, the Church in the 21st Century Center is launching an opportunity for BC Alumni, family, and friends to pray together each week. Wednesdays, 4:00-4:15pm (EST), on Zoom.
Fath Payson ’22
Faith Payson ’22, who hails from northern Virginia, is a senior in the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences. She is majoring in biology on the pre-medical track and minoring in interdisciplinary Catholic studies.
For four years, Faith has been involved with Campus Ministry. She currently serves as treasurer for the Liturgy Arts Group and as co-president of Gratia Plena, BC’s Catholic Women’s Group. Faith has also helped organize Silent Eucharist Adoration on campus and has sung for Praise and Worship Adoration. Her passion for service work includes extensive participation on projects and in programs through the Campus School, 4Boston, APPA, PULSE, and the St. Joseph Project (a homeless outreach group).
After graduation, Faith will travel to Washington, where she will begin a year of service with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest as a homeless outreach specialist with Yakima Neighborhood Health Services.
Andrew R. Davis
Andrew R. Davis is a native of Raleigh, North Carolina, where he first discovered his love of ancient languages in Mrs. Morton’s seventh-grade Latin class. He continued studying Classics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (AB). After a year in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps (Oakland) and another year teaching English in Austria, Davis attended the Weston Jesuit School of Theology (MTS) and then pursued doctoral studies at the Johns Hopkins University (MA, PhD). Research for his dissertation included a year as Kress Fellow at the Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem. Before coming to Boston College, Davis taught for four years at the Seattle University School of Theology and Ministry.