Our Recommended Read

The Things He Did – by Stephen Cottrell, Archbishop of York

March’s recommended read is a highly suitable one for anyone looking to come closer to God by thinking more deeply about the events of Holy Week this Lent. The book follows Jesus throughout that week until Good Friday. As we know, Jesus did a lot of things in that week. He created an impact, but the book not only focuses on what happened; it helps to unpack some of the meaning behind those actions.

Each chapter focuses on a different event, starting with Palm Sunday, and includes Jesus’ righteous anger in the Temple, when he overturns the tables of the money changers, as well as the events of Maundy Thursday.

Alongside The Things He Carried and The Things He Said, this book completes a trilogy, although it can be very comfortably read on its own without reference to the others.

The book is written in typical Stephen Cottrell style; it is highly engaging and readily accessible. Adopting narrative to tell the story, he invites the reader to see what happened as if they were a bystander to events, painting the picture simply and beautifully; involving all the senses (he breathed deeply; the scent of jasmine and wild thyme filled his nostrils… .is a good example of the evocative language used throughout this short book).

The book can be used for individual self-study or could be used as a  Lent study group aid, with each chapter ending with points for reflection from both the chapter and the biblical passage it explores. These are carefully designed to prompt reflection/discussion on what the meaning of Jesus’ actions might have been then, as well as for us His disciples today.

I would strongly recommend this book to you all, as we begin our Lenten observances this year. The book will not only complement our liturgy but will allow us to be taken inside the story of what God has done for us in and through Christ’s death and Resurrection, enabling us to better understand this great act of sacrificial love.

Rev Erica Wilding