Follow Me: Meditations on the Passion of Jesus

A.J. Pell is the rector of Holy Trinity Cathedral, Diocese of New
Westminster, British Columbia.

Christianity is not distinctive because of a belief in God. Jews and
Moslems, for example, also believe in the same God. Rather, the
uniqueness of Christian faith centres on Jesus, and particularly on his
death and resurrection. In this book, Bertha Catherine Madott has
focused on the Passion (suffering, trial, and death) of Jesus in a
series of 40 meditations beginning in the Garden of Gethsemane and
ending at the tomb. Each meditation ends with a short prayer, and some
are accompanied by Nina Price’s helpful drawings.

A typical meditation in Follow Me is rooted in an action, a person, or
a word from the Passion story. We learn a bit more about Jesus and his
followers in each. But it quickly expands to include the life and world
of the reader. Everyday assumptions, attitudes, and worldviews are
gently probed and opened to the judgment and mercy of God. The reader
leaves the meditation touched and, probably, changed. Thus this
unassuming book makes an ideal daily personal study for Lent, or could
serve as the focus of prayer and contemplation for a personal retreat.