Joy Cowley's Psalms Down-under, like their biblical models, are not the stuff of comfortable piety. They sing beatitudes for all life has to offer: pain and joy, doubt and faith, turbulence and peace, in the immediacy of 'down-under' speech. Commonalities become blinding insights as Cowley sees the 'shimmering of the divine' in everything from detergent bubbles to mountain snows. The subjects range from the paschal mysteries to the ordinary 'Bumps' in our lives. These contemporary 'metaphysical' prayer-poems go straight to our heart and quicken the soul: "Listen God/I just had a nasty bump/and now I want to know the reason why."..

As the title suggests, this is an invitation. Joy's writing and Terry's photography become a conduit connecting the reader with the essence of the Gospel stories. "This book is a gift to us from someone who has spent much time contemplating the face of Christ as his disciple. It leads us to Jesus. His light and peace are present in these pages. Thank you again Joy, friend and companion of the Bridegroom, for decreasing so he may increase." Fr Carl Telford SM..