‘Observing a Holy Lent’ through Books, Films, Art and Music!

My contribution to The Pelican, the parish newsletter of St Giles-in-the-Fields, March 2025 offers suggestions for books, films, art, lectures and concerts to enjoy this Lent:

Data from the US publishing industry shows religious book sales outperform other titles and google searches for “Bible resources” peak at this time of year, as people respond to the call to observe a ‘holy Lent’ and the command to read and meditate on God’s Word in the weeks ahead.

Publishers in the UK have long sought to capitalise on this trend. In recent decades the Archbishop of Canterbury has endorsed a ‘Lent Book’ each year. Baptist Minister and all round jolly-good-fellow Andy Goodliff has compiled a nearly complete list at this link. Christian bloggers have observed that publisher SPCK erased details of the editor of this year’s title ‘Wild Bright Hope – Reflections on Faith’ fearing, perhaps, that sight of his name (a certain Justin Welby) may negatively impact sales? Coincidentally, the last Lent book to bear his name as author ‘Dethroning Mammon’ (2017), explored attitudes to money and materialism.

The Lent Books endorsed by the Archbishop of Canterbury focus on diverse aspects of faith and spirituality, are portable (around 200 pages) and written for use both by the solitary reader and as resources for Lent Groups meeting in churches. Often, they are structured in a way that can be divided into six (for sessions in the six weeks from Ash Wednesday to Holy Week) and sometimes - but not always – conclude each section or chapter with questions or prompts for further reflection and discussion.

‘Abiding’ - Ben Quash’s book from 2013 is a gripping exploration of one word from John 15: “Abide in me, and I in you.” Quash powerfully shares aspects from his personal life to reflect on what ‘abiding’ with each other means in terms of relationships with family and those around us. He touches on issues of mental health and body image when discussing the challenges of abiding in our own minds and bodies – all of which is an attempt to come closer to understanding what it might mean to abide in God. More recently I found ‘Saying Yes to Life’ (2020) by Ruth Valerio fascinating for its insights on issues of faith and environmental justice – each chapter examining the world today through the first creation account in Genesis. The book is accompanied by a series of videos and resources, still available online here.

In years when they aren’t the publisher of the Archbishop’s recommended text, Bloomsbury release their own ‘Lent Book’. ‘Lent with the Beloved Disciple’ (2024) was authored by Bishop Michael Marshall, who gave the address at the Prayer Book Society AGM held at St Giles last year. An exploration of the Gospel of John, the Bishop uses a description of the growth of the spiralling nautilus shell as a visual image to describe our growth in faith and as a way to understand the structure of the fourth gospel. It also seems a fitting way to conceive of his own text, in which each chapter expands on the last, drawing on reflections from great theologians across the ages while spiralling around the central focus of the living Word.

For those wishing to explore the first gospel to be written, I highly recommend ‘Meeting God in Mark’ (2014) by the excellent Rowan Williams. Like one of those tiny chocolate pots that come in small glass containers that many choose to give up in Lent, this is small but rich. Just three easily accessible chapters, spread over seventy five pages, it is a great companion to the gospel and concludes with a structure for reading it from start to end across each day in Lent, followed by some questions for reflection. Williams’ follow-up book ‘Meeting God in Paul’ published a year later is also excellent – it is a great shame the series stopped there.  

While on the subject of Mark, ‘An Easy Stroll through a Short Gospel. Meditations on Mark’ (2018) by the enigmatically named American writer Larry Parsley is one of my favourite short ‘commentaries’ – exploring each sentence of the gospel in turn. Not specifically written for Lent, the eighty-seven chapter-ettes of just two or three sides each could be used as a morning and evening devotional reading each day. The language is light and engaging while the subject matter is deep.

A recent discussion about Lenten fasting on our ‘God’s Time’ Whatsapp Group reminded me of Robert Karris’s short text ‘Eating your way through Luke’s Gospel’ (2006) which explores the gospel through its numerous references to food – and begins with a helpful reality check about diet in the time of Jesus.

Is anyone planning to study Matthew’s gospel this Lent? – if so please let me know of any short and easily accessible reading guides you come across.

There’s a whole sub-genre of Lent Books that focus on the Passion of Christ, the events of Holy Week and Christ’s ‘seven last words’ from the cross.

Manfred Weber has collected a series of sermons, sermon fragments, letters and other writings by the theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer on the theme of ‘Meditations on the Cross’ (1996) which may be of interest especially to those who joined us for our Advent Course in 2023 which explored one of Bonhoeffer’s books. In ‘Cries for a Lost Homeland’ (2021) Guli Francis-Dehqani, The Bishop of Chelmsford, offers seven reflections inspired by the ‘seven last words’ and weaves in fragments of her own life experience, including her childhood in Iran.

Stephen Cottrell, now Archbishop of York, has written numerous books including three short and accessible reflections for Holy Week and Easter; ‘The Things He Carried’ (2008), ‘The Things He Said’ (2009) and ‘The Things He Did’ (2016). These are ‘immersive’ texts, helping us to connect to the story of the passion through descriptive writing.

Our friends at St George’s Bloomsbury have decided to explore ‘Women of Holy Week’ by Paula Gooder as their Lent Book this year which can also be downloaded as a free podcast if audiobooks are your thing. While thinking of Paula Gooder, her well researched novels Phoebe and Lydia are excellent reads.

Jules, a member of our Gods Time Whatsapp Group reminded me that its not just biblically-inspired novels that make improving Lent reads. She recommends ‘A Gentleman in Moscow’ (2016) by Amor Towles. Set in revolutionary Russia and focussing on the life of an aristocrat in the wilderness of house arrest, Jules says the book reveals the ‘inner reflections of a man who has seemingly lost everything but finds a love of life despite it’.

For a historical novel with a more local collection, perhaps check out the recently published ‘Blackbirds of St Giles’ (2025) which imagines the life of two African-American immigrants who arrive in the Rookeries (slums) of our parish.

If movies are more your thing, how about watching a dramatization of the Passion or a film based on the life of Christ? A fascinating book I read once is ‘Barabbas’ by Pär Lagerkvist which recounts the story of the crucifixion and the days and weeks afterwards through the eyes of the man freed by Pilate at the behest of the crowd in place of Jesus. A 1961 film based on the text can be found on YouTube.

There are plenty of resources available for art lovers - ‘The Art of Lent’ (2017) by the late and much loved Sister Wendy Beckett offers a painting a day from Ash Wednesday to Easter Day, accompanied by a brief reflection.  The Art & Christianity Annual Lecture takes place on Wednesday 19th March at The Church of the Annunciation, Marble Arch. Melanie Keen, director of the Wellcome Collection, will speak on ‘The Ancient Art of Mothering: from iconography to lived experience’.

If musicals are your thing, why not get hold of a recording of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar, or Stephen Schwartz’s Godspell? I have a friend who became a nun after watching the latter!

For choral and classical music lovers, there are Lenten hymns, settings of the Passion, Oratorios and the Seven Last Words freely available online – why not look up a recording, have a listen and find out what influenced the piece. Better still, why not go and hear a live performance?  Bach’s St John Passion is performed by the St Paul’s Cathedral Choir on Wednesday 2nd April and by the Academy of Ancient Music at the Barbican on Friday 18th April. Bach’s St Matthew Passion is performed by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment at the Royal Festival Hall on Thursday 3rd April. I will be giving a talk at Holy Sepulchre London during Choral Evensong on Wednesday 26th March about Beethoven’s only Oratorio -  Christus am Ölberge (Christ on the Mount of Olives). The talk will explore the challenge of representing Christ – fully human and fully divine – in music.

Finally, don’t forget our own Lent Course at St Giles-in-the-Fields. “I Believe” will explore the Nicene Creed, a foundational statement of faith written 1700 years ago.

Please do join our ‘In God’s Time’ Whatsapp Group to read and share more thoughts and reflections as we support each other through this Holy Lent.