What Some People Say About Lent

Every Lent, we ought to be looking at the various ways in which we get involved in manufacturing the gods that suit us.  Every Lent is a time to get that little bit further beyond the idolatry, that constantly keeps us prisoner and draws us back to the old world.  When Jesus has cleared out the temple, when he has thrown out those people involved in manufacturing religion, there he stands with his friends in a great silence and a great space.  And he says: this is the space where all people may feel at home; this is a space large enough for all to come because this is where God lives.
   

                                               Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury,
                                                                       from a Sermon, March 11, 2012

In this season of Lent, we take some time to focus on what that means for our lives, whether it is as simple as giving up chocolate candy or as profound as taking on a commitment to serve the poor or to serve others in some new way. Whatever it is, let that something be something that helps you participate in the movement of God's love in this world following in the footsteps of Jesus.
                                                                                               
                                                                     Presiding Bishop Michael Curry,
                   Lenten message to the Episcopal Church, February 10, 2016

I believe at the heart of our Lenten journey is the opportunity for us to decrease    so that Christ can increase in and through us.
                                                                      Brian Prior, Bishop of Minnesota,
                                                                       Blog Post February 25, 2014

Lent begins not with confession. Lent begins with love. Lent is like a retreat. The first and central point is reclaim, renew and refresh our identity as God’s beloved children. 

                                      Brother Luke Ditewig, Society of Saint John the Evangelist
                                                                           Blog Post February 24, 2013

From Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday, Christians are invited to do without some things they are perfectly capable of having -- such as rich food or loud parties with their friends -- and to take on some things that they are just as capable of avoiding -- such as a moral inventory or a lunch date with someone they are mad at.
"Lent," it is called, from an English word meaning "spring"-- not just a reference to the crocuses pushing their ways out of the ground in the season before Easter, but also to the greening of the human soul--pruned with repentance, fertilized with fasting, spritzed with self-appraisal, mulched with prayer. 

                                                                         Barbara Brown Taylor

                                                                 from a Sermon, February 21, 2010