Category Archives: Lent

Chaminade prays for peace in Ukraine during this Lenten Season

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Lenten Theme 2022: God, Turn it Around

One of the hallmarks of a Catholic, Marianist education is developing and strengthening our interior spirit by providing time to nurture habits of silence and reflection, especially as we approach the Lenten season, we take time to reflect on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

With war devastating our Ukrainian brothers and sisters, this Lent carries an increased heaviness. For  this reason, we ask God to turn it around by helping us be intentional in how we enter more deeply into this Lenten season. Chaminade will join Pope Francis and the entire Catholic Church on Ash Wednesday (March 2, 2022) to pray and fast for an end to this war and peace in Ukraine. As a Catholic, Marianist school, we follow our tradition of defending peace against aggression, which is an inalienable obligation. Please click here to read the official announcement from the Vatican.

Praying and fasting along with almsgiving are Lenten practices. Fasting, which is practiced in many religions, is one of the highest forms of self-sacrifice, and it becomes even more special when we do it for peace in Ukraine. Fasting is not merely about staying hungry and thirsty, but rather, it invites us to engage more with God and cease activities that separate us from God.

To help us on our Lenten journey, Chaminade’s Office of Campus Ministry will offer many opportunities to reflect on Jesus’ love and stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine. Please click on the links below to learn more about campus-specific opportunities.

Please join us in prayer as a Chaminade family to pray for the people of Ukraine:

God of infinite mercy and goodness, we pray to you for the people of Ukraine who are experiencing conflict and death. To you, we entrust all their families and pray that they may never yield to discouragement and despair but become heralds of new hope to one another in this challenging time. Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Zarvaniza, spread your maternal mantle over all people of goodwill who live in the great nation of Ukraine. We pray for the world that in this moment of crisis, we may all reach out in solidarity to our brothers and sisters in need so that peace and justice may become a reality for the people of Ukraine and all over the world. Amen.

Lent 2019: Here is My Heart Lord

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Original abstract painting of purple background. By Jamie Carroll 2016.

On March 6, Chaminade marked the beginning of Lent with Ash Wednesday prayer services on both campuses. “Here is My Heart Lord” is our Lenten theme for 2019. As we journey through this season of Lent, we are asked to recommit ourselves to God’s merciful love, and act upon our apostolic call to pray, give alms, and fast during this sacred liturgical season.

To help us on our Lenten journey, Chaminade will host events on each campus which our families are encouraged to attend.

LIFE Mass – March 10 at 5:00 p.m.
• West Hills Campus Condon Center Chapel

Sacrament of Reconciliation
• Chatsworth Campus: March 14-15 at  2:20 p.m.
• West Hills Campus: April 11-12 time TBD

Lenten Prayer Service
• Chatsworth Campus: “Stations of the Cross” March 20 at 9:15 a.m.
•  West Hills Campus: “Last Seven Words of Jesus” April 17 at 10:00 a.m.

Founders Day Mass – April 4 at 9:30 a.m.
• West Hills Campus

Last Supper Para Liturgy – April 8 at 10:15 a.m.
• Chatsworth Campus

In the following weeks, Campus Ministry will offer opportunities for our students to serve, including an apostolic works sock drive, service Saturday for middle school students, a service trip to the L.A. Regional Food Bank, and spring cleaning drives throughout March and April for the high school students. Additionally, on March 29, Chaminade will once again host the Special Olympics on the West Hills campus.

More Information regarding campus-specific Lenten activities can be found online and through the Chaminade This Week email newsletter. We invite our Chaminade community to take advantage of these great opportunities to help you in your Lenten journey.

Lent 2018: Hope Will Rise

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The Lenten season began with Ash Wednesday, on February 14. Chaminade College Preparatory hosted a prayer service at its Chatsworth campus, and a Mass at its West Hills campus

The theme for Lent this year is Hope Will Rise. As a community, Chaminade will focus on the graces God offers to us. This requires the habits of silence and reflection in order to discover the way in which we have accepted God working in us, loving us, and helping us see the beauty of our inner-self.  To celebrate hope during the Lenten season, the Office of Campus Ministry will provide prayerful events to help the Chaminade family experience God’s loving grace. A list of these activities is below.

Middle School Schedule of Lenten Activities

March 14 at 9:15 a.m.
Stations of the Cross
Fr. Allen DeLong Center

March 28 at 10:15 a.m.
Holy Thursday Paraliturgy
Fr. Allen DeLong Center

Date and Time TBD
Sacrament of Reconciliation
Location TBD

 

High School Schedule of Lenten Activities

March 4 at 5:00 p.m.
LIFE Mass
Blessed Chaminade Chapel

March 7 at 10:00 a.m.
Stations of the Cross
Uribe Sports Center

Date and Time TBD
Eucharistic Adoration
Blessed Chaminade Chapel

Date and Time TBD
Sacrament of Reconciliation
Blessed Chaminade Chapel

Holy Week Message from Bro. Adam Becerra

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Dear Chaminade Family,

Throughout our Lenten season, our Chaminade community has been celebrating God’s amazing grace. God’s grace is the very essence of who we are and how we are called to manifest His presence in our everyday life.

Beginning with Palm Sunday, we have now entered into the holiest times of our Catholic tradition: Holy Week. This is a time in which we reflect upon and enter deeper into the paschal mystery of Jesus Christ: his life, death, and resurrection. Every Christian is called to contemplate upon this mystery to seek ways in which to follow Jesus and live out His amazing grace that comes with the gift of salvation.

The Marianist Three O’clock prayer that we pray everyday reminds us that we stand with Mary at the foot of Jesus’ cross, ready to receive the gift of His very own self, and manifest His love throughout the world in which we live in. This is the gift of being at a Marianist school. We encounter the love of Jesus Christ who offered Himself for us on the cross and resurrected to a new life that would bring us love, faith, hope, and joy. It is also through this encounter that we gather together with our brothers and sisters of other religious faith traditions to celebrate and recognize God’s infinite love in each other.

I pray that each of you may experience the love and joy that comes with Jesus’ resurrection as you rejuvenate your life and bring hope to others. May God’s blessings be upon each of you and your families as you celebrate the gift of God’s amazing grace!

In Christ,
Bro. Adam  Becerra, fsp, M.Th.
Director of Mission Integration & Ministry

Ash Wednesday Mass at Chaminade College Preparatory

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DSC_2642On Wednesday, February 10, 2016, the Lenten season begins with Ash Wednesday. Chaminade College Preparatory will hold a Mass and distribution of ashes at each campus in Chatsworth and West Hills.

8:15 a.m.
DeLong Center, Chatsworth

9:50 a.m.
Uribe Sports Center, West Hills

Ash Wednesday is a day of fast and abstinence for Catholics. Abstinence from eating meat is to be observed on all Fridays during Lent. This applies to all persons 14 and older. The law of fast and abstinence on Ash Wednesday (February 10) and Good Friday (March 25) applies to all persons 18-years-old and younger than 59. Fast and abstinence mean that one full meatless meal per day may be eaten. Two other meatless meals may be taken sufficient to maintain strength, but together they should not equal a full meal. Liquids, including milk and fruit juice, may be taken between meals. If health or ability to work is affected, fasting does not oblige.

Let us pray:

Mary, you were a powerful and quiet presence in the life of your Son.
Let us humbly attend, as you did, to the God, who accomplishes great things in us,
As we work and pray during this season of Lent. Amen.