St. Barnabas The Apostle Anglican Church

Recommended Readings for Lent

Books:

		Lent and Easter with the Holy Fathers Spend this Lent and Easter in the Good Company of Popes Past and Present As Pope Clement XIII said in a 1759 encyclical, Easter is the celebration “by which alone the dignity of all other religious occasions is consecrated.” The Church would not exist if it were not for what happened on that first Easter Sunday. Also, the events of this season are all connected: There would have been no Easter Sunday without Good Friday; Good Friday is best understood in the context of Palm Sunday; and the forty days of Lent are modeled after the temptations of Christ in the desert. This is the story of the passion of our Lord. Our faith revolves around that passion, His death, and His resurrection. Without the events of this season, our faith wouldn’t make any sense at all. There is no better time to listen to the words of the Holy Fathers, then now.

		Pilgrim Road: A Benedictine Journey Through Lent In the view of St. Benedict of Nursia, the Lenten journey is an inner pilgrimage with Christ into the deepest parts of ourselves, to be marked not so much by external observances such as fasting and self-denial as by a deepening of our relationship with God. Benedictine monk Albert Holtz develops that journey theme through meditations written during a fifteen-country pilgrimage during a sabbatical year. At the heart of each reflection is the lesson it teaches about our inner spiritual journey. By applying Benedict’s monastic wisdom to the everyday concerns and aspirations of modern Christians, Pilgrim Road helps contemporary spiritual seekers keep Lent as a positive, meaningful, and fruitful experience.

		Bread and Wine - Readings For Lent And Easter Has there ever been a more hard-hitting, beautifully written, theologically inclusive anthology of writings for Lent and Easter? It's doubtful. Six separate sections (Invitation, Temptation, Passion, Crucifixion, Resurrection and New Life) guide readers through the essential elements of spiritual preparation and feature writings from some of Christendom's most celebrated masters. Classic thinkers such as Martin Luther and John Donne share space with 20th-century theologians like C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton and Dorothy Day. There is also a generous sampling from contemporary writers, including Philip Yancey, John Updike, Frederick Buechner, Madeleine L'Engle, Henri Nouwen and Brennan Manning. http://www.amazon.com/

		Freedom from Sinful Thoughts J.Heinrich Arnold Sage advice on finding freedom and wholeness in a world full of distractions and temptations. Downloadable! Download: PDF http://www.plough.com/

		The Ragamuffin Gospel : Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out Brennan Manning Many believers feel stunted in their Christian growth. We beat ourselves up over our failures and, in the process, pull away from God because we subconsciously believe He tallies our defects and hangs His head in disappointment. Brennan Manning reminds us that nothing could be further from the truth. The Father beckons us to Himself with a "furious love" that burns brightly and constantly. Only when we truly embrace God's grace can we bask in the joy of a gospel that enfolds the most needy of His flock-the "ragamuffins." http://www.amazon.com/

		Show Me The Way : Readings for Each Day of Lent by Henri J. M. Nouwen The texts in this anthology, chosen from previously published works by Henri Nouwen, aim to prompt and guide the reader… As a Lenten handbook it presents the man or woman at prayer with God’s Word in a brief text from the liturgical reading or the Gospel of the day in question. The Meditation that follows leads into the reality of one’s own life and to the translation of faith into reality http://www.amazon.com/

		Devotional Classics : Selected Readings for Individuals and Groups Compiled by Richard J. Foster These fifty-two selections have been organized to introduce readers through the course of one year to the great devotional writers. The readings have been edited by James Smith, and each is accompanied by an introduction and meditation by Richard Foster. In addition, each reading features a related biblical passage, discussion questions, and individual and group exercises. http://www.amazon.com/

Articles:

Keeping a Holy Lent
Truro Church, Virginia
By Martyn Minns, Rector

Take inventory —Take a look at your life, examine your daily schedule, find a few minutes to be still and listen. Turn off the television, ignore the latest e-mail and be quiet. Invite the Holy Spirit to renew and refresh you. Ask the Lord to show you those things that you need to change, habits you need to amend or adopt.

Repent—Repentance is not merely being sorry for your sins, although it usually includes that. The root word metanoia is a Greek word meaning a change of mind, a radical revision and transformation of our whole mental process. That change of mind is something whereby God takes center place in our consciousness, in our awareness, and in our minds. It means becoming God-centered instead of self-centered. It doesn’t happen overnight, but it is the direction to which we are called.

Pray and fast —From the earliest times prayer and fasting have been essential Christian disciplines and devout Jews would pray and fast on a regular basis. It doesn’t need to be complicated. Set aside a day a week or perhaps several days and instead of eating, spend the time in prayer. You will be astonished at the results.

Read—Start off with the Bible. Use a daily study pattern, follow the lectionary, or simply read through the gospels. The important thing is to feed on the Word of God. Lent is also a good time to read some of the spiritual classics. Revisit Augustine’s Confessions, J. I. Packer’s Knowing God, or Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline.

Disciplines in Lent
The Living Church
By David Kalvelege

Lent has a long history in Christian tradition. Originally is was a time when adult converts prepared for baptism. Candidates for baptism spent this time receiving instruction in Christian doctrine, in prayer, fasting and in confession of their sins as they prepared to be baptized during the Easter liturgy. About the third century, the custom developed that Christians should observe the period of about six weeks before Easter as a time of spiritual discipline. This period became associated with fasting, study and prayer, and Christians were to use the time in a similar fashion as when they prepared for their own baptism.

Lent has become more than a public liturgical observance. It is a time that individuals can use to participate in the discipline of self-examination, a serious time to look at ourselves and our relationship with God. An honest self-examination often leads to the conclusion that we have fallen short of what God intends for us, that we need to seek God's forgiveness, and that we need to amend our lives. Such disciplines as prayer, fasting and self-denial as called for in the Liturgy for Ash Wednesday along with reading and meditating on God's holy word continue to be valuable for many Christians. Such customary observances, often derided by some as out of touch or too individualistic, would seem more appropriate than ever in a world dominated by secular self-satisfaction.