Book Review

By Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

Christ in the Margins
Robert Lentz, Edwina Gateley
Orbis Books 03/09 Paperback $20.00
ISBN: 9781570758140

Edwina Gateley is founder of the Voluntary Missionary Movement which sends lay missionaries to three continents and of Genesis House in Chicago, a residential and outreach program for women in prostitution. In the introduction to this uplifting work, she writes: "It is time for the people of God to stop marching along with the status quo in search of security, power, and control, but to stumble instead towards the margins where we will encounter a magic and a mystery that will plunge us trembling but rejoicing into the Realm of God. This is what this book is all about. And it invites us into such a time and such a place where we will recognize the face of Christ — always new, always unexpected."

This exquisite volume contains forty icons and accompanying biographies by Robert Lentz, who has been painting for more than 25 years. His work has been shown across the world and appears in many books, Joan Chittister's A Passion For Life: Fragments of the Face of God. Each section also includes a reflection by Edwina Gateley.

In times of political turmoil and economic insecurity, we need encouragement to carry on in the face of bleak prospects. The authors help us see that many of God's best friends have persevered with hope in difficult times and sought justice while others chose to stay out of the fray. The community of saints always needs to be expanded, which is precisely what Lentz and Gateley have done with this collection of founders (Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Ignatius Loyola), crusaders and prophets (Steven Biko of South Africa, Cesar Chavez), outcasts (Harvey Milk of San Francisco), wisdom of the broken (Saint Rose of Lima, Cardinal Bernardin of Chicago), holy fools (Albert Einstein), magic on the margins (Damien the Leper), visionaries and mystics (Black Elk, Blessed Julian of Norwich), and artists, poets and children (Johann Sebastian Bach, J.R.R. Tolkien, Saint Therese of Lisieux).

What an eclectic and eccentric band of ardent souls come to life in the intense and meditative icons of Robert Lentz! This is an ideal resource for those on a spiritual journey with its inspiring examples of moral mentors who worked for peace, justice, and transformation in adverse circumstances. All of these friends of God demonstrate the spiritual practice of vision.

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by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat