Christ Our Passover: Meditations on the Mystery of Salvation

A.J. Pell is rector of Christ Church in Hope, B.C., editor of the
Canadian Evangelical Review, and an instructor of Liturgy, Anglican
Studies Programme at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia.

For many Christians, particularly those who are members of liturgical
denominations, the seasons of Lent and Easter are times for spiritual
reflection and learning. This book is intended to facilitate that
process of religious growth. It consists of four major calendar-related
sections: Lent, Holy Week, The Paschal Triduum (Maundy Thursday to
Easter morn), and Easter season (including Ascension Day and Pentecost).
There are also four meditations, three added as a coda (for an
ordination and Trinity Sunday) and one inserted into Easter (for a
funeral), that could have been omitted since they distract from the main
body of meditations.

As Reynolds admits in his preface, these meditations originated as
sermons, a fact he defends on the grounds that his sermons “tend to be
meditative” The meditations have, on the whole, an unfocused feel,
although there are brief moments of focused insight that move the reader
to thoughtfulness. For example, a postmodern reader will be startled by
the observation that “the passion still turns on Jesus’ sense of
obligation, not a sense of his rights as an individual; it was a matter
of obedience, not a matter of personal fulfillment.”

The sermonic origins of these meditations lead to a real disappointment
with this book. Most meditations end with brief hortatory comments that
are oriented toward church and sacraments, rather than the life of
ordinary Christians. Everyday life is ignored, except for the wonderful
reflection on the Ten Commandments that “we cannot keep faith with God
unless we keep faith with our neighbours.” More such insights would
have enhanced this volume.