I was given this book as part of BookSneeze at Thomas Nelson publishing. I wanted to like this book. I wanted to read it and experience a new aspect of living by faith. I wanted to find new ways to look at the Christian calendar and the Christian year. I had great expectations.
In truth, this was a hard book for me to get through and I never quite finished it. Not coming from a liturgical background, I had hoped to find more about practically living out the Christian calendar. I had hoped for more on how to recognize and acknowledge and celebrate the liturgical year.
I did appreciate how Chittister brought a perspective of Christ into every aspect of the calendar. And I did very much enjoy Chittister's poetic prose. She writes from a perspective of looking at the whole of the calendar in awe of the presence of God, as we read in this passage on Advent:
"Advent is a period of preparation for Christmas but, unlike Lent, it is not a period of penance. It is a period that focuses on joy... We come to realize more each year how great our blessings, how beautiful is a life lived in concert with the Jesus who came to show us the way. We learn the joy of anticipation, the joy of delighting in a sense of the presence of God all around us, the joy of looking for the second coming of Christ, the joy of living in the surety of even more life in the future."
I recommend The Liturgical Year for those truly interested in learning a new and perhaps more historical aspect of the Christian calendar, knowing that it is not a merely a surface look at the subject.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com
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