Preparing for a Fruitful Forty Days of Lent
– Some Spiritual Reading Resources 

• Surrender to God: An orientation to Lent, by John Henry Newman
• The Spiritual Meaning of Fasting, by Carlos Alonso Vargas
• Focus for Fasting: Pursuing our higher calling to serve and worship Christ, by Jerry Munk
• Fasting and Hungering for Righteousness: A selection of readings for Lent from the early fathers

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• The Courage to Be Different, and True Holiness, by Bruce Yocum 
• The Holy Spirit Reveals the Merciful Father, by Raniero Cantalamessa
• God Calls Sinners to Make Them Saints: Simon Peter’s Story, by Jeanne Kun
• The Prodigal Son by Rembrandt – Master Painter and Storyteller

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• The Great Downfall, by Steve Clark
• A Mirror to see Inside Ourselves, by Gregory the Great (540-604 AD)
• The Mountain of Your Sins Will Never be too High, by Cyril of Jerusalem (349-386 AD)
• Why Does God Allow Temptation? by Maximus the Confessor (580-662 AD) 
• Dead to Sin, by John Chrysostom (349-407 AD)
• Purity of Heart Is to Will One Thing, by Sören Kierkegaard

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• Conquering Ourselves and Overcoming the Evil One, wisdom from early fathers
• Walking in the Light, by Gregory of Nyssa
• Christ Calls Us Deeper Still by John Henry Newman
• It’s Not About You! by Bob Tedesco
• Pursuing Holiness in an Unholy World, a strategy for winning, by Tom Caballes
• He Must Increase: Finding Our Identity in Jesus Christ, by Jan Munk  

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• Repentance, Forgiveness, Heaven, and Hell: quotes from C.S. Lewis
• There Are No Ordinary People, by C.S. Lewis
• Growing Downward to Grow Up: The Life of Repentance, by J.I. Packer
• Manna and Mammon: A battlefield on which the Lord challenges us to show our mettle, by Daniel Propson

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• The Cross – the One True Glorification of God, by Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI
• The Cross of Christ – the Measure of the World, by John Henry Newman
• Emptied for Our Sake, by Bernard of Clairvaux
• Worship at the Cross, by Charles Simpson

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• God Has Reigned from a Tree: Meditations on the Cross of Jesus Christ
• Ecce Homo! – Behold the Man!, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
• He Bore Our Pride In His Body on the Cross, by Raniero Cantalamessa
• What Happened on the Cross, by the early church fathers

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• Salt and Light: Our Vocation to Holiness, by Donald Bloesch
• Why the Church Needs Saints, by W.E. Sangster
• On Saints and Saintliness, by John Henry Newman
• The Agony in the Garden: Love’s Surrender, by Jeanne Kun

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• Saints or Sinners? by Jerry Bridges
• The Discipline of Confession, by Richard Foster
• Holy, Holy, Holy: Isaiah’s Call and Mission – and Ours by Tom Mangan
• Sloth – the deadly vice of our present age, by Peter Kreeft

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• The Lavish Love of the Prodigal Father: reflection by Don Schwager
• Countering Vice with Virtue: Part I – Faith and Virtue, by Don Schwager
• Attaining True Greatness – Humility versus Pride, by Don Schwager
• With Jesus in the Wilderness for Forty Days, by Don Schwager

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Top photo image of cross, bible, candle, and dried fruit, from Bigstock.com, © by New Africa, stock photo ID: 410101093.