Living Words: A booklet for renewal of the Holy Spirit
by Michael Hurley (Messenger Publications, €4.95)
This booklet is the accompaniment as a sort of ‘workbook’ to Michael Hurley’s Inspiring Faith Communities.
A programme of Evangelisation
(Messenger Publications, €12.95/£11.95)
This, in essence, is a prayer book for daily use. It consists of a collection of scripture passages and reflections for each day of the duration of the programme.
It is, however, composed within the present conditions of life and faith in Ireland in these dark days of Covid-19. The pandemic will undoubtedly leave a mark on how people live their faith lives. The inspiration of the parish cell movement in the Church inspires Fr Hurley’s work. One can see this as being of increasing interest in the days to come.
A Calvary Covenant: The Stations of the Cross
by John Cullen (Messenger Publications, €4.95/£4.50)
This Easter time, preceded by a season of Lent, will be very different. In this little booklet Fr John Cullen reflects on the significance of the Stations of the Cross, a devotion dating from the Fourth Century, a time when the Christian faith was beginning to penetrate Ireland, moving a whole people it seemed in a new direction.
Fr Cullen begins by reminding his readers that: “The fourteen stations are in the present tense. What they say is happening now in your life or someones life, somewhere in the world.”
However if the pamphlet is re-printed it might be a notion to add an insert with images of the individual stations. These days it is not so easy to find a church open, and the pictures would add to the effectiveness of Fr Cullen’s book for home devotion. I have in mind the Ignatian idea of viendo le lugar, ‘seeing the place’ as an important initial step in contemplation of the mysteries of religion.
They are certainly words that provide a context that will reach everyone – as they reflect on suffering and salvation – that in the despair of darkness, there is also the promise of a new dawn.
Hearers of the Word. Praying and Exploring the Readings Lent & Holy Week Year B
by Kieran J. O’Mahony OSA (Messenger Publications, €14.95/£12.95)
This book is the fourth in the series Hearers of the Word. It provides a commentary and guidance on prayer, but essentially leads the reader back into the scriptures, in this instance the Gospel of St John, which is so different from the other three gospels. The pointers for prayer have been prepared by another Augustinian Fr John Byrne.
But this is a resource that needs to be approached with patience and daily application that I suspect is now difficult for many. And yet a great deal of pastoral thought and scriptural scholarship and desire to reach out and enlighten people goes into the series. With churches closed and worship taking on new appearance readers must take the words of scripture into their minds in new conditions.