A welcome Lenten companion

THE MIRACLES OF JESUS: Meditations and Prayers for Lent, by Wessel Bentley. Upper Room Books (2013). 112pp. ISBN: 978-0835811132

Reviewed by Günther Simmermacher

Our Lenten journey should accomplish more than to test our endurance in successfully completing our annual sacrifice. It is intended to help us purify ourselves spiritually in anticipation of the Risen Christ.

For those who take the Lenten road in that spirit, there is a wealth of books that seek to guide the reader on the way to the Resurrection. The Miracles of Jesus adds to that library, and a welcome addition it is, too.

Written by the Rev Wessel Bentley, a Pretoria-based Methodist minister and chief researcher at the Research Institute of Theology at the University of South Africa, The Miracles of Jesus encourages scriptural reflection, contemplation, meditation and prayer.

The book offers a meditation for every weekday of Lent (plus Holy Saturday), each covering the scriptural account of a miracle performed by Jesus. These very accessible meditations are all followed by a point of reflection (which the author implores his readers to take seriously and answer honestly), a focus for contemplation and a prayer.

The scripture readings are only referenced, so it is good to have a Bible at hand, even if most of the miracles are familiar.

Bentley challenges us, gently and sensitively, to confront the “demons” in our lives, with a view of driving them out (much as Jesus drove the demons called Legion out of the man on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee). We might not readily recognise these demons, so Bentley, through the Scriptures, points them out to us: deficient faith, prejudice, pride, arrogance, intolerance, greed powerlessness, feelings of unworthiness, love of the law over Jesus, exclusion of Jesus in our lives, past hurts that linger, and so on.

The purpose in pointing out these weaknesses obviously is not to humiliate us, but to identify and then heal them through Christ. So Bentley also speaks of surrender, of healing and growth in faith, of God’s power in our lives, of courage and peace through Christ, of the sometimes unexpected power of prayer, of redemption, and of the Lord’s constant presence.

Bentley wants to turn our eyes on God so that we can let go of our preoccupations in daily life — which is precisely what we are called to do in the season of Lent.

An epilogue provides a structure which prayer groups can use in conjunction with the book.

Bentley may be a Protestant, but the book’s spiritual focus and language is entirely in tune with the Catholic faith. The author has a good way of presenting his profound thoughts with simplicity, warmth and great faith — and admirable brevity.

The Miracles of Christ is a welcome companion on the Lenten journey.