Ash Wednesday and Christianity at Milton
Image courtesy of TIME
By ALLISON BLAKE ‘22
Last Wednesday, Ms. Hunt and Ms. Bell chaperoned a second period visit to the Ash Wednesday service at St. Elizabeth’s Church, with about ten students taking the walk down Randolph Ave to receive traditional ashes and celebrate the beginning of the Christian Lenten Season. Though the sight of a dark black smudge or cross emblazoned on someone’s forehead may seem out of place on campus, the ashes – representing repentance and both life’s source and end – hold universal significance for millions of Christians around the world. According to Ms. Hunt, “[The service] was a beautiful opportunity to come together in prayer to work on becoming the best versions of ourselves.” Though a majority of people openly celebrate more ‘mainstream,’ commercialized Christian holidays like Christmas and Easter, Ms. Hunt notes that receiving and wearing ashes throughout Ash Wednesday, while common in many other places as an apparent expression of faith, is rare at Milton. She says that “sometimes it’s hard to see other Christian faces on campus because faith has become something more private and personal” and hopes that “faith will become something that people feel more comfortable expressing.” Ann O’Malley ‘22, who joined Ms. Hunt to receive ashes, “appreciated the opportunity to go get ashes and go to mass during the school day because [she] might not have had the time otherwise, and [she] really enjoyed the service.”
Though she did not join Ms. Hunt and Ms. Bell in celebrating Ash Wednesday, Caitlin Waugh ‘20, co-head of Christian Fellowship, echoed Ms. Hunt’s sentiment about the expression of faith at Milton. She says that she and the other co-heads have “tried to destigmatize not only Christianity but religion in general on campus because [she] feel[s] like Christianity gets a bad rap.” According to Caitlin, “understandably, because of certain Christian groups, people see Christianity as an image of hate, when really it only preaches love. People who preach hate in the name of Christianity only use religion to back their viewpoints.” To some, Christianity holds connotations of homophobia, white supremacy, and – in Boston, in particular – the Catholic Church’s corruption and abuse scandals. Caitlin says Christian Fellowship has focused instead on the Church’s fundamental moral teachings: “We’re here to spread love and kindness.” In her own life, Caitlin has found beauty and power in her faith; she says that “it’s the most important thing in [her] life. It grounds [her], and it’s an example of how [she] want[s] to live [her] life.”
Zach Neri ‘21, another Christian Fellowship co-head alongside Caitlin and Jalen Nixon ‘21, emphasizes that the club remains open to all students: “You don’t even have to be Christian to be here. You can just be curious about faith.” In planning for Christian Fellowship’s upcoming assembly, he hopes to “spread the message about Christian Fellowship, especially to Christians on campus who might want to come to a space like this but struggle to find time or don’t even know about [Christian Fellowship]. ” Similar to Zach, Mr. McDermott, an art teacher and the Christian Fellowship faculty sponsor along with Ms. Hunt, aims to expand the club’s reach and presence at Milton. He embraced the position this year after reflecting on how his “journey of faith was particularly influenced by [his] time in high school and ‘Young Life,’ a high school campus ministry. [He] noticed the lack of something like that at Milton.”
Through this Lenten season and beyond, Christian Fellowship and its leaders aim to redefine Christianity’s perception and expression at Milton – whether students wear black crosses on Ash Wednesday or not.•