Gaze Upon Jesus

I loved Walk in Her Sandals during Lent 2017, so I was excited to read an advanced review copy of the new release Gaze Upon Jesus: Experiencing Christ's Childhood through the Eyes of Women. The book had a similar format to Walk in Her Sandals, a unique blending of different contributors with a consistent feel chapter to chapter.

A new element of this book in contrast to Walk in Her Sandals was visio divina linked to sacred art, linking perfectly with the title and cover image. While I could not fully appreciate this element of the book because I was reading it on a Kindle and didn't have access to the color images, I recognized the potential of this aspect of the book because a lectio divina book that I just started incorporates that element as well. It has been beneficial, so I know that had I been reading from an actual paper copy of the book (or a Kindle Fire or other e-reader that has color), the visio divina sections of the chapters would have been of great benefit.

I appreciated that the book centered on the joyful mysteries of the Rosary with the addition of the flight of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus to Egypt. I highly recommend Gaze Upon Jesus for Advent this year. It is set up to be a six-week Scripture study, providing plenty to read, view and reflect on, a chance to slow down and ponder the beauty of the liturgical season during a time of year that can often be associated with busy, busy, busy.

Created to Relate

Last summer Kelly Wahlquist was a speaker at a women's conference at our diocesan retreat center. I enjoyed seeing glimpses into her story and the bends her life has taken - areas where she was called to trust greatly and step forward in faith and moments when the Holy Spirit gave her just the right words at just the right moment. While reading Created to Relate: God's Design for Peace and Joy, I recognized some familiar anecdotes from her talks at the conference, along with additional details and thinking that could not be captured within the time allotted for her talks. I enjoyed being able to have the combination of revisiting some of her thinking, while also having extensions on those thoughts. I could also picture her energetic personality sharing the stories.

The book focuses on relationship to God and to others. While exploring how women relate, Wahlquist made biblical connections to highlight how women are created and different examples of how that can look in different contexts. She gives examples of Lectio Divina and then scaffolds that process for readers, in order to consider implications from the Bible for our own lives.

In her acknowledgements I love that Wahlquist expresses gratitude for Jeff Cavins, saying, "for opening my heart to a deeper relationship with the Lord by introducing me to a love of Sacred Scripture; for recognizing a gift in me that I didn't know I had; for encouraging me to work in that gift; and for creating an opportunity for me to do so by hiring me to literally 'build relationships.'" (Loc 91-95). This made me think about my own journey, considering people and experiences that have helped me to grow closer to God, to love his Sacred Scripture and the Sacraments in his Church, to bring strengths to the surface and to reflect on how God would like to use them. Woven throughout the book is reflecting on individual journeys and discerning God's will for our lives, with examples from her life to understand how the process can work. There is attention to our universal call that unites us, as well as unique differences.

Her experiences resonated with me and helped me to reflect on my own life. I especially loved the layers of seeing how she grew in trust over time by being open to unexpected changes in her life, to the plans she had envisioned for herself. She gives authentic glimpses into all the emotions that can be wrapped up in the process of on-going discernment and trust through the different bends in life. As can be noted in her note of gratitude shared above, the book progresses naturally by thinking first about her relationship with God and then spanning out to how God can use her as an instrument in relating with others built on the foundation of relationship with him. She also shows how an on-going investment in relationship with God is critical throughout our lives. I enjoyed seeing more glimpses into Wahlquist's life and thinking through reading her book. 

Walk in Her Sandals

This Lent, I read a chapter from A Walk in Her Sandals: Experiencing Christ's Passion through the Eyes of Women each week alongside others in the St. Teresa's Online Book Club. After an introduction the book focuses six chapters on different days of Holy Week and Pentecost, followed by a conclusion. Each chapter focuses on a gift linked to the liturgical day, such as The Gift of Receptivity for Palm Sunday and The Gift of Prayer for Holy Saturday.

The book has a range of contributors with Kelly Wahlquist as the editor. Each of the main chapters incorporates an exploration of the gift and liturgical day through multiple angles. A consistent flow chapter to chapter makes it easy to navigate the different elements woven together as the pattern starts to feel comfortable. The components are: A Moment to Ponder, Enter the Scripture, Walk in Her Sandals, Unwrap the Gift of _____, Reflect on the Meaning of: ______ (Liturgical Day), Lectio, Questions for Group Discussion, and Walking in the New Evangelization. Some sections had a consistent contributor throughout all the chapters, while others rotated depending on the chapter. I loved the blend of different types of writing (fictional narrative, reflective writing, calls to action...).

I especially loved the final chapter focusing on Pentecost and the way that it linked to my one little word for 2017: filled.

Some of the names were familiar as they crossed over with The Catholic Mom's Prayer Companion and Catholic Digest. Right around the time we started to read the book, I heard that Kelly Wahlquist is going to be a speaker at a women's conference in our diocese this summer, so I enjoyed the opportunity to get to know her through the book and anticipate the conference this summer even more.