That They May All Be One

Description

Stories from an Ecumenical Pilgrimage by Sophia Martin.

From the Foreword by Bishop John Michael Botean:

“Obviously, the tomb is empty!!! I am a witness.”

With that laconic comment, Sophia Martin summarizes her visit to the Church of the Resurrection, also known as the Holy Sepulchre, the location of Christ’s tomb in Jerusalem. With this book, she firmly establishes her credentials as what Pope Francis would term a “missionary disciple,” as well as an author. Though quite a young woman, still in school, still of what most of us more wizened folk consider a very tender age, Sophia has put together a narrative of remarkable insight and maturity. Part chronicle and part spiritual reflection, That They May All Be One tells the story of the “Light of the East” pilgrimage in the
summer of 2023 …

But I still didn’t know what I was missing, even during my pilgrimage, until I read the book you are reading now. To be sure, this book will bring back powerful memories in all of us who journeyed with Sophia, but it will do more than that. I did not realize how many details escaped my notice at many of the sites until Sophia’s careful cataloging of them here brought them to my attention. Her rendering of the events of those days showed me, to my chagrin, what I had not been paying attention to, what I had been missing. By this I mean more than the physical details of the places themselves; her profound appreciation of each place from the point of view of her deep spirituality made me wonder if I had really been on the same trip.

To read this book is to be given the privilege of seeing the events and places of those days through the eyes of a true witness, of someone who gives voice to the meaning of her experiences as few of us can …

290 pages, ~500 color photos, $40.00.