"The most subtle temptation every Christian faces is the temptation to do something for Jesus before being with Jesus. We would do well to ask ourselves, during this Lenten season of self-examination, just how much the work we do in the name of Jesus reflects the time we spend in the company of Jesus." James Gibson, Anglican priest

"Nothing, how little so ever it be, if it is suffered for God's sake, can pass without merit in the sight of God." Thomas a Kempis (1380-1471), German monk of the late medieval period, and author of the classic devotional The Imitation of Christ

"And eventually, the choosing becomes easier, the darkness lifts, and walking in Jesus' way is not quite such a struggle for a while. But the darkness will always return, often unexpectedly. That is why I need Lent, because it bears witness to the reality of darkness, of doubt, of fear, of pain. And it carries me through those real places, real experiences into one that is more fully and truly Real: the Reality of Resurrection, of Light, of Life." Kimberlee Conway Ireton American internet blogger, writer, poet

"We can think of Lent as a time to eradicate evil or cultivate virtue, a time to pull up weeds or to plant good seeds. Which is better is clear, for the Christian ideal is always positive rather than negative. A person is great not by the ferocity of his hatred of evil, but by the intensity of his love for God. Asceticism and mortification putting to death the lusts of the flesh are not the ends of a Christian life; they are only the means. The end is charity love. Penance merely makes an opening in our ego in which the Light of God can pour. As we deflate ourselves, God fills us. And it is GOD’s arrival that is the important event." Fulton J. Sheen (1895-1979), American cleric, famed for his 1950s TV program Life Is Worth Living

"Lenten practices of giving up pleasures are good reminders that the purpose of life is not pleasure. The purpose of life is to attain to perfect life, all truth and undying ecstatic love – which is the definition of God. In pursuing that goal we find happiness. Pleasure is not the purpose of anything; pleasure is a by-product resulting from doing something that is good. One of the best ways to get happiness and pleasure out of life is to ask ourselves, “How can I please God?” and, “Why am I not better?” It is the pleasure-seeker who is bored, for all pleasures diminish with repetition." Fulton J. Sheen (1895-1979), American cleric, famed for his 1950s TV program Life Is Worth Living

“Never forget that there are only two philosophies to rule your life: the one of the cross, which starts with the fast and ends with the feast. The other of Satan, which starts with the feast and ends with the headache.” -Fulton J. Sheen (1895-1979), American cleric, famed for his 1950s TV program Life Is Worth Living

"Ash Wednesday is full of joy ... The source of all sorrow is the illusion that of ourselves we are anything but dust." Thomas Merton (1915-1968), American Catholic writer and mystic

"It is not repentance that saves me; repentance is the sign that I realise what God has done in Christ Jesus." Oswald Chambers (1874-1917), Scottish Baptist and Holiness Movement evangelist and teacher, best known as the author of the devotional My Utmost for His Highest

"When we talk about 'giving something up for Lent,' let's be honest: we usually mean 'I'm going to throw God a bone.' But the time between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday is meant to be a time where we take ourselves out of time and out of the business of our world to spend time dying to ourselves. … Lent is the spring of hope for all who believe that the tomb is empty and the oppression of sin and death is released. It is the spring of hope for those mourning and grieving. This time of fasting is both a releasing to God but also a proclamation of freedom through Christ. More than that, it's also sharing that hope to others through giving our own lives away, just as Christ did for us on the Cross." Zachary K. Perkins, modern American freelance writer and Christian blogger

"No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good. A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. After all, you find out the strength of the German army by fighting it, not by giving in. A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it." C.S. Lewis (1898-1963), English w