Book Review: Holding Jesus

An absolutely beautiful book that you'll want to have on hand this Advent [and beyond] is Fr. Alfred McBride's Holding JesusReflections on Mary the Mother of God.  As with many books written by Fr. McBride, this book is very well-written and offers much to ponder.

Holding Jesus takes a look at our Blessed Mother's relationship with Jesus in three parts: Mary as the mother of the child Jesus, Mary's relationship with Jesus during his public ministry, and her participation in Christ's Passion, Death, Resurrection and sending of the Holy Spirit.

Part one of this book offers a daily reflection for every day in Advent.  For each entry you'll find three readings, an inspirational quote, a thoughtful reflection, a question to ponder and finally a prayer.  The reflections for each of these entries are  well done and very thought provoking.   The questions will challenge you to dig deeper spiritually.   The prayers are all quite beautiful.  After reading though the Advent reflections I knew that this would be one of the books I'd be reading this upcoming Advent.

Part two of this book offers eight reflections on Mary's relationship with Jesus during his public ministry.  These reflections are done in the same manner as part one.  Part three of this book is ideal for Lenten reflections.

In total Holding Jesus contain forty-two beautiful reflections on our Blessed Mother's relationship with Jesus.  It truly is a beautifully done book and I don't hesitate to recommend it.

I was provided with a review copy of Holding Jesusby the publisher, Franciscan Media, in exchange for my honest review.  You can take a peek inside this book at Amazon.com.