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 .
Peter Leithart
Peter J. Leithart is President of Theopolis Institute. He is the author of numerous books on theology, literature, and culture, including Theopolitan, Defending Constantine, and Baptized Body.
More from Lent
Continue reading related articles
The Cross and the Powers
Paul taught Christians to expect a lot from the gospel, politically as well as personally. He taught that the crucifixion of Jesus had a direct impact on the powers-that-be. He told the Colossians that Jesus went to the cross as the firstborn¯the only-begotten of the Father, the new Israel, the…
Season of Ashes
"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust,” we say at funerals. Why? Dust makes sense. Human beings are dust animated by the breath of God (Gen. 2:7). Since Adam’s fall, we return to the ground: “you will return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; dust you are,…
Time for Hunger
After His baptism, Jesus went into the wilderness to fast and to be tempted by the devil for forty days and nights. The first temptation concerned food. Jesus was the new Adam, facing a food test not in a garden but in the wilderness. Jesus was the new Israel, hungering…
In Medias Res
Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.