Hunger for Righteousness, Phoebe Faraq Mikhail. Paraclete Press (ISBN: 9781640609341) 2025.

Summary: Drawing upon Coptic and other church tradition, explores how Lent may be personally and communally transforming.

I grew up in a Protestant tradition that did not observe Lent. But I lived in a Catholic neighborhood where the conversation before Ash Wednesday was a discussion of “what are you giving up for Lent?” For most, it was something like candy, or perhaps more narrowly, chocolate. I was never quite clear why God needed people to give up chocolate, or other things during this time. For many of us as adults, that is the extent of our knowledge of Lent. Phoebe Farag Mikhail, who has been shaped by the Coptic Orthodox tradition, fasting, and what one fasted from wasn’t a choice. But what her community abstained from reflected a deeper longing, a corporate hunger for righteousness. She writes of this in her introduction.

If we pay closer attention to the earliest Christian Lenten traditions, we’ll discover how Lent was a period during which individuals who wanted to become Christian prepared themselves not for personal transformation, but to join the body of believers, the communion of saints, through baptism. By examining our liturgical prayers and Scripture readings developed over centuries, we’ll discover the ways Lent has always been a time for individual repentance, yes, but first for giving and forgiving, for mending relationships and building new ones, for fighting injustice, and for growing in intimacy with God communally, not just individually (pp. 13-14).

This book is designed to be read and meditated upon and applied during the weeks before and during Lent. One chapter covers each week, as well as a final chapter on Easter. The first week “trains us for the climb” in preparation for Lent by considering Jonah and the Ninevites through practice of the three day Jonah fast. Subsequent chapters consider:

• Abraham, reckoned righteous by God, who negotiated with God for Sodom.
• St. Abraam of Fayoom, a nineteenth century ascetic who gave generously to the poor.
• The faith that moves mountains, including the mountain of forgiveness.
• Abba Serapion and the challenge to grow as repentant readers of Scripture.
• St. Paesia, a trafficked woman, her turning from despair, and the ways we wrongly judge others.
• The righteousness of Tamar, more determined to perpetuate her husband’s family than Judah.
• The righteous faith of Abraham again, in the sacrifice of Isaac.

We conclude on the note of Resurrection. Mikhail considers the pilgrimage accounts of Egeria enroute to Jerusalem during Roman times. Egeria walks the way of Jesus passion, and we read of her joy in God and rest in the risen Christ.

Each chapter offers questions for reflection and application. Two appendices offer further resources including the Great Lent Lectionary of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria.

Mikhail helps us see the fast of Lent as a hunger for righteousness, glimpsed in the lives of biblical figures and saints we may not have heard of before. Whether we adopt the practices of Coptic Christians or not, her reflections help us deepen our own practice of Lent. She helps us move beyond the “give up” to the promise for those who hunger for righteousness. They shall be filled.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.