Lenten Wisdom from the Desert Fathers and Mothers

On the Sundays during Lent, Dr. Christine Luckritz Marquis will be teaching an Adult Education Class (The Dining Room class) at Second Presbyterian Church, Richmond, Virginia.

From the beginning of Christianity, Christians have engaged in embodied spiritual practices to deepen their intimacy with God. Modern Christians continue to find inspiration in the monks who lived in the deserts of Egypt. But the wisdom of these ancient women and men runs even deeper. For just as Christians today do, they faced the challenges of engaging neighbors. We will spend the weeks leading up to Easter thinking through the radical but also sometimes problematic heritage our desert brothers and sisters bequeathed us with regard to issues such as gender and sexuality, race and ethnicity, economic and food justice, and how we frame violence.

Dr. Luckritz Marquis is Assistant Professor of Church History at Union Presbyterian Seminary, Richmond, VA.