CBB Review – Through the Year with Pope Francis

Through the Year with Pope Francis: Daily Reflections is a great daily meditation resource recently released by Our Sunday Visitor. Editor Kevin Cotter draws from various sources to compile the daily readings. These include but are not limited to, various General Audiences, addresses from World Youth Day 2013, Homilies given at the Domus Sanctae Marthae, excerpts from the book Only Love Can Save Us, and excerpts from another book On Heaven and Earth.

The book is setup with a short reading for each day of the year. At the end of each reading is a reflection which springboards the reader into prayerful contemplation. In this manner you can welcome Pope Francis into your busy lives for a few short but inspirational minutes every day. One nice feature of the book is the index. Is there a particular topic you would like to know what Pope Francis has said about? Flip to the index and explore his words on abortion, evangelization, faith,prayer, sacraments, trials and trust to name a few. Multiple areas of interest are covered with titles such as The Foundation of Our Faith, Nothing Slow About the Holy Spirit, Jesus’ Voice is Unique, He Asked for Nothing and Don’t be Distracted there is plenty here to meditate on. 

In the introduction of the book Kevin states: “Think of it (this book) as your daily protein shake or energy shot of the Gospel message, according to Pope Francis. The material is set up so that you can not only read the words of Pope Francis but also reflect on their meaning for your life as you consider the questions that follow each meditation.” Another nice addition in the introduction are the six steps to prayer of St. Francis de Sales. These steps wqill aid you in utilizing this volume more fully. 

When Jorge Bergoglio was first introduced to the world as Pope Francis the big question was…what would his message be? Now that time has passed we have an idea of what that is. That answer has come from the words of the Pope himself. This book will allow you to have a better understanding of what that is in small daily portions.

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I received a copy of the book for this review from Our Sunday Visitor. If you would like to learn more about the book or to purchase a copy click on the title in the review above.