Alumni Writers Offer Lenten Learning Suggestions

“Lent is the best time for spiritual reading focused on self-improvement,” observes alumnus K. E. Colombini (’85) in Crisis, “especially for those who have promised to give up or cut back on sports or entertainment, freeing up time in the process.”

As if on cue, fellow alumnus Mark Langley (’89), echoes this sentiment on his blog, writing, “Lent is a time when we are supposed to free ourselves from some things so that we might be free for other things.”

So how do these graduates propose that we make use of whatever free time may be had this Lent?

Mr. Colombini offers a modest suggestion, namely, taking up books that are readable, deep, and transcendental, that is, “respecting truth, beauty, and goodness,” while “orthodox in teaching, beautiful in exposition, and focused on the good and noble.” He recommends two titles in particular, Deep Conversion/Deep Prayer and Happy Are You Poor: The Simple Life and Spiritual Freedom, both by the late Rev. Thomas Dubay, S.M.

In the same spirit, Mr. Langley offers a broader suggestion — that this Lent his readers draw deeply from the wellspring of liberal education in its many forms. “We need to feed our souls on the wholesome nourishment of good literature and the fine arts,” he writes. “We need to exercise our passions on objects that will allow them to operate in a measure which is eminently reasonable.”

If you are looking for good reading material this Lent, Mr. Colombini and Mr. Langley’s reflections are a good place to start.