A February 2010 feature from Christianity Today, “Lent: Why Bother?” features essays by three writers: Steven R. Harmon, a Baptist pastor and associate professor of divinity at Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Ala., writes about why Baptists can observe Lent; author Frederica Mathewes-Green, who is founder with her husband of Baltimore’s Holy Cross Orthodox Church, writes that Lent […]

A Feb. 12, 2010, broadcast by Religion & Ethics Newsweekly has a reflection on Lent by Pastor Steve Buechler of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Gaithersburg, Md.

Read the  a Feb. 2010 story on the pope’s 2010 message for Lent from Catholic News Service.

Justice was the central theme of the pontiff’s Lenten message for 2010. Read the text of the message at the Vatican’s website.

Pope Benedict XVI focused on the the traditional themes of fasting, almsgiving and prayer in his Lenten message for 2011. “The practice of almsgiving is a reminder of God’s primacy and turns our attention towards others,” Benedict writes.

Read an essay from ChristianHistory.net on how the early tradition of pre-Lenten repentance developed into our modern practice of Ash Wednesday.

Read “Fasting has spiritual, physical benefits but also points to good works,” a March 2, 2011 Catholic News Service story.

A Jan. 25, 2011, column at Scientific American reports on a new study that finds we tend to overestimate the healing power of an apology.

A Feb. 3, 2011, post at the website of New Scientist magazine rounds up research indicating that suffering physical pain — the old-fashioned way of expiating guilt — is in fact effective at easing feelings of guilt.