Day 1- Ash Wednesday

Where do I begin? I guess with the point of this whole thing. For the first time in probably 15 years I was not able to go to church today and receive my ashes on my forehead like most other Catholics. I am actually really bothered by this. Not only because I didn't get my ashes, but because I haven't been to church in at least 5 weeks and I had no idea what I would be giving up for Lent this year. As I was waiting for the subway this morning I was beginning to think I was becoming a fallen Catholic like so many people in my family.

As the day wore on it began to bother me more and more that I hadn't gone to mass and I really couldn't come up with a single thing that I thought would be good to give up. It wasn't until I got home from my clinical that it hit me. I am a nursing student in the city of Boston and had spent my entire day working. My morning was spent at the Needle Exchange program in Cambridge caring for injection drug users and my afternoon and evening were spent at the Long Island Homeless shelter. Sitting in my dorm room I remembered a homily from an Ash Wednesday that to this day I haven't been able to forget....."Instead of giving something up why don't you do one good deed everyday throughout Lent" the priest had said.

For some reason that idea has always stuck with me, but I have never had the balls to actually follow through and do it. I think I have always been scared that I won't be able to do at least one good deed every day for forty days which I guess is pretty pathetic. The more I thought about the idea the more it seemed to me that if I was really going to try and use lent as a time of reflection and repentance the way I have always done that doing a good deed might be the perfect way to go about it.

I was still unsure after thinking and dwelling on it for some time and decided I should just relax and get some food. I had bigger things to worry about, like the nursing exam I had coming up in two days. Then as I was leaving my dorm room a young woman in a full hijab shouted out to me and asked me where the library on campus was. I led her in the right direction and gave her directions. She then thanked me and said, "Seriously thank you so much it is my first day here at Northeastern and I had no idea where I was going. Thank you so much."

As I walked away I knew that was my sign that I figured out what I would be doing for Lent this year. It was so clear that that was my good deed for the day. I was exhausted and just looking to get food, the girl was so far away I could have kept walking and ignored her call for help, and the way she thanked me were all signs to me that God was showing me that doing one good deed a day wouldn't kill me. So that is what this blog is, a collection of the good deeds I am doing this Lent.
                                        

Honestly, it did strike me as a little odd that a Muslim woman would be the inspiration for a Catholic Lenten journey, but like so many things in my life I have decided not to question it. God works in mysterious ways. And my life works in even weirder ones. So here goes nothing!

My goal is to blog once a day and describe the good deed that I did. This isn't so much because I want credit for the good deeds, but rather a confirmation that I am keeping my Lenten vow. So with that I offer up my helping the new student find the library as my very first good deed of the Lenten season. Let's cross our fingers and hope that this is easier than I am anticipating!