The Advent of Peace : A Gospel Journey to Christmas

The much loved Saint Francis of Assisi discarded the trappings of wealth and found Christ in the simple life. Through daily meditations, Scripture readings, and action-based spiritual exercises written for the Advent and Christmas season, we are each invited to examine our spiritual life, to listen to the wisdom of Saint Francis and to follow in the footsteps of Christ. St Francis of Assisi calls us to embrace a life of radical Christian discipleship. For Francis, to live the life of a disciple of Christ meant that one had to embrace the poverty and humility of Christ as made manifest in Christ's own birth. This Advent and Christmas, let Saint Francis guide you in finding the great expression of God's overflowing love for each one of us through reflection and prayer.

Advent is celebrated when the year is becoming darker and colder, moving into the death and dormancy of winter. Before we can greet the coming of the light, we need to engage with some themes that are challenging and occasionally fearful. Like the Magi who travelled a long distance to search out and adore the infant Jesus, and who took some wrong turns on the way, we too have a journey to undertake before we find that we have 'Walked haphazard by starlight straight into the kingdom of heaven.' (U.A. Fanthorpe, BC:AD) Haphazard by Starlight is a companion volume to Janet Morley's bestselling Lent book, The Heart's Time. Here the reader is given the opportunity to engage in a pilgrimage of the heart, through Advent and Christmas to the feast of Epiphany. Each day, from 1 December to 6 January, offers a poem (sometimes explicitly Christian, sometimes not) and an accessible commentary that is both critically informed and devotional in intent.