A Lenten Reflection For College Students

O Lord and Master of my life, take from me the spirit of sloth, despair, lust of power and idle talk.

But give rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love to your servant.

O Lord and King, grant me to see my own sins and not judge my brother, for you are blessed unto ages of ages. Amen.

St. Ephraim the Syrian

As we enter into Great Lent, this prayer of St. Ephraim holds a major place of importance in many of the services of the Orthodox Church. In a sense, this prayer is a brief summary of what a true Christian life is all about.

When I think back on my own college days, I remember thinking it would be a perfect time to follow the standards of prayer, fasting and alms-giving which are characteristics of Great Lent.

But when I would hear this prayer, I would realize that almost every ideal it expressed was even harder to live up to during those college years.

As a college student, it seems we have many masters of our life and the Lord is far down the list. Our professors may be our masters because of work they assign to us. Our fraternities or sororities may be our masters by planning our social obligations.

And if we look at our college life, we can see that the list of masters in our life goes on and on.

Usually we find that during the college years, the Lord is put on hold. If we were active in our church or its organizations, our activity stops abruptly during college.

We seem to indulge ourselves in many of the things from which this prayer asks God to deliver us, and we want little or nor part of the things that this prayer asks God to bestow on us.

Maybe this is why the church seems to be so far away during our college years and why it seems to be such a struggle to get our college students to Bible studies, retreats, or even regular worship services.

During these years of study, the things that we perhaps study the least are ourselves, because we often make ourselves the center of our existence. We are too busy worrying about doing our assignments, studying and even partying to really examine ourselves.

While we take many exams during our college years, we are also given many other exams of our faith and beliefs which often go unnoticed. Each time a temptation comes along, we are tested.

Our mid-terms might be equated with those very hard moral decisions we made in our life. All of these tests are added up to determine the outcome of our final exam which will be given to us by the Great Teacher.

This is the most important exam that we will ever take, and we must do some work towards it as well as study for it also. The way we prepare for this exam is spelled out in this prayer of St. Ephraim.

During this Lenten period, take some time out to study yourself using the guidelines given in this prayer. You'll be surprised at what you'll learn about yourself; and, at the same time, it will be a good review for that all-important final exam that will determine if you pass from this life to the next.