ALL pilgrimages are about the opening of our eyes and our heart. They are to be moving experiences. Even if you are sitting at home, or in a Bible-study group, you have to allow yourself to be moved and to be open to change.

So it is with Matthew in Your Pocket. You are invited to use your heart and imagination as you walk with St Francis, and Bishop Martin Shaw through a landscape, and through St Matthew’s Gospel.

Walk with Francis and be inspired, challenged, and amazed by him who will kneel in the muddy road and call it “holy ground”, and who will give his meagre lunch away and then expect you to share yours with him.

Be attached to Francis, exasperated by him, puzzled or humbled, like Bishop Martin. Do not be surprised if you discover there is an Other who walks with you; for this is a fact of your life’s journey, always even to the end.

In each section of the book, you will be presented with three parts: the pilgrimage, including a section of Matthew to read; a reflection, and a sentence that arises from the Gospel reading; and, finally, an exercise that might be used then or throughout the day.

The book that you are to carry is a copy of the Gospel. Be warned, if you are on a walking pilgrimage: Matthew in your Pocket is a standard-size paperback of 323 pages. This is an interesting way for a study group to look at Matthew or for an individual to use at home. Any section of the book would stand alone and be useful for meditation or a study group, but it would be better used from the beginning to the end.

Canon David Adam is a former Vicar of Holy Island.

Matthew in Your Pocket: A pilgrimage with a Gospel

Martin Shaw

Saunton Press £9.99

(978-1-911035-47-3)

Church Times Bookshop £9