To observe Lent rightly, we have to be persuaded that we already stand in God’s favor.
Ash Wednesday reminds us to number our days. It helps us gain a heart of wisdom (Psalm 90:12).
We keep Easter to manifest and deepen our prior share in resurrection. We observe Lent to manifest and deepen our share in the cross.
As a focused pursuit of the fruits of holiness, Lent is rooted in union with Christ, who is our sanctification.
Lent is the season of blood and guts and flesh. It is the supremely anti -Gnostic season.
Some say Lent inhibits the church’s cultural impact. To that, there are three answers: Christendom, Byzantium, & Bach.
Lent is a pursuit of glory, because the Lord exalts those who humble themselves.
To observe Lent rightly, we need to be confident that the power to obey God is a gift from God.
Israel sought out and purged old leaven once a year. Lent is the Christian feast of unleavened bread.
For Christians, death is not end but beginning. Lent is an extended meditation on that good news.
Life is a Lenten journey through death toward resurrection.
Lent is boot camp for spiritual warriors.
Without Lent or something like it, the church risks falling into a victoryism without the cross, which is the weapon of victory.
Lent didn’t keep Christians from converting Europe, forming Christendom, building cathedrals, celebrating carnivale.
Lent is training in the fundamental Christian discipline of waiting.
Lent is preparation for martyrdom. Nothing is more politically potent than a martyr.
Like the whole church calendar, Lent inserts “the fact of Christ into the rhythm of seasons, weeks, days and hours.” –Congar
Read more here.
Dear Reader,
Can I be direct with you?
War abroad. Socialists on the rise. AI upending human life. Endless uproar online. The modern attention economy doesn’t want readers — it wants users enslaved to the tyranny of the present.
First Things is the antidote: literary excellence, timeless truths, and a fixed point of reference in a culture that has lost its bearings.
But we can’t do it without readers like you.
Our goal: Raise $150,000 by November 1 to sustain First Things in the year ahead.
Your gift anchors readers in the permanent things.
Make your Fall Campaign gift now using the button below.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Giovanni Del Piero, Director of the Editor’s Circle, at gdelpiero@firstthings.com or 212-627-1985.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
The Church in the Age of Therapy
In 1966, Philip Rieff wrote in The Triumph of the Therapeutic that “Religious man was born to…
Canada’s Deadliest Blind Spot
On September 20, the Daily Mail ran a story with the provocative headline, “Our 83-year-old Christian grandmother…
The Faithful Joy of Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen
Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen seem to have had little in common. She favored rhinestones; he wore…
