In each of the past several years, I’ve found that the “purple seasons” of the liturgical calendar– Advent and Lent– come at strikingly opportune times. As I increasingly interpret Lent as a period of repentance and renewal leading to rebirth, I make an effort to focus not only on where I’ve gone astray and how I’ve sinned against God and others, but also on how I might restore frayed relationships, cooperate with grace to breathe new life into my prayer, and become once again the vibrant disciple I’m called to be. Halfway through my second year of teaching and coaching at a Jesuit-sponsored middle school serving boys from low-income neighborhoods in Worcester, Massachusetts, I all too easily see the shortcomings of my instruction, the limits of my patience, and the harm done to my soul by clinging to unhealthy self-criticism. So in the course of this Lent, I desire to fast from negativity, to humbly return to a degree of dialogue and collaboration with my colleagues that helps me learn from their successes, and to both notice and affirm the goodness, potential, and hope that each of my students carries. God willing, this process of making a return will be one of the most important lessons that I learn– and teach– before the end of the school year.
Chris Ryan is a Jesuit regent working at the Nativity School of Worcester in Massachusetts; this year, he teaches religion, history, and Spanish to 7th and 8th graders, and he also coaches cross-country and track. Chris lives with the Jesuit community at the College of the Holy Cross, where he participates in a monthly vocation discernment group with a few of his brothers and a number of undergraduates.
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