Loyola Students Approach Lent with Intention and Reflection

Loyola community focuses on personal growth, spiritual connection, and community service during the Lenten season.

Published on Feb. 19, 2026

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Across Loyola University Chicago's campuses, students and faith leaders are reframing the forty-day season of Lent as an opportunity to grow, personally, spiritually, and communally, rather than only being a season of sacrifice. Students are approaching Lent with intention, focusing on practices like gratitude journals, deepening prayer life, and engaging in community service.

Why it matters

As a Jesuit, Catholic institution, Loyola's approach to Lent emphasizes personal and spiritual development over simply giving up indulgences. This aligns with Pope Francis' call for the faithful to focus on 'giving to' rather than just 'giving up' during Lent. Loyola's diverse faith community is finding meaningful ways to observe the season through reflection, prayer, and outreach.

The details

Loyola students like Gabriela Rosina and Amelia Simone are reframing their Lenten practices, focusing more on gratitude, reducing time on social media, and deepening their prayer lives. Campus Ministry encourages simple Ignatian practices like the daily examination of conscience to help students slow down and reflect. The community also gathers regularly for Mass and to walk the Stations of the Cross, which has a social justice focus. The final Lenten pillar of almsgiving calls students to look beyond themselves and serve their broader community.

  • Lent runs for 40 days, from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday.
  • Loyola students attend Ash Wednesday mass on February 14, 2024.
  • During Holy Week, Loyola's faith groups will gather to walk the Stations of the Cross.

The players

Gabriela Rosina

A Loyola University Chicago student (BA '26) who is focusing her Lenten practice on gratitude and recenterment.

Amelia Simone

A Loyola University Chicago student (BA '29) and member of the A.M.D.G. faith community who is giving up TikTok to deepen her spiritual life during Lent.

Brother Bobby Nichols, S.J.

A chaplain at Loyola University Chicago who encourages students to approach Lent as an invitation to personal and spiritual growth, not just sacrifice.

Aleja Sastoque

The assistant director for faith formations for Campus Ministry at Loyola University Chicago.

Natalie Dominguez-Partida

A junior (BA '27) at Loyola University Chicago who has attended the Stations of the Cross service during Holy Week in the past.

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What they’re saying

“This Lent, I really want to focus on changing my thoughts and ideas, using Lent as a time to recenter. I want to try to do some type of gratitude journal every day to be grateful for everything that I have in my life and to thank God for everything he's given me.”

— Gabriela Rosina (luc.edu)

“[You] don't have to be Catholic, Christian, Muslim, Jewish or any particular religious affiliation. The biggest step that you have to do is knock our door and then from there everything will be easy.”

— Aleja Sastoque, Assistant Director for Faith Formations, Campus Ministry (luc.edu)

“If our Lenten practice is purely just giving up desserts, it's not asking the deeper question: How does this practice … help me love God, love myself, and love others more freely, then we're not necessarily participating. And we're just choosing to go to the gym more frequently.”

— Brother Bobby Nichols, S.J., Chaplain (luc.edu)

“I think what Lent is really trying to do is ask a deeper question: what is God inviting me to become in these months leading up to Easter? What is it within myself that I need to let go of so that new life can come?”

— Brother Bobby Nichols, S.J., Chaplain (luc.edu)

“We're going to do this together, walking through this period of time through prayer.”

— Natalie Dominguez-Partida, Junior (BA '27) (luc.edu)

What’s next

During Holy Week, Loyola's faith groups will gather to walk the Stations of the Cross, a service focusing on social justice and praying for the many cultural and ethnic groups within the Chicago community.

The takeaway

Loyola University Chicago's approach to Lent emphasizes personal and spiritual growth over just sacrifice, with students finding meaningful ways to observe the season through reflection, prayer, and outreach to their broader community. This aligns with the Jesuit, Catholic institution's values and Pope Francis' call for the faithful to focus on 'giving to' rather than just 'giving up' during Lent.