The Church's ancient hymn of Easter praise addresses Christ as the Morning Star. It refers to a natural phenomenon when the planet Venus appears in the east before sunrise, sometimes seeming to be the very sun itself, as it rises in the sky. This image of the morning star brings hope of a new day and a new dawn. The morning star sheds a peaceful and gentle light which heralds the sun's rays. In this image we see Christ, himself, first born of the Father, who brings his peace and hope to our darkened world. He shelters us from the rays of the sun and introduces us to the light in a gentle and tender manner through his simple birth of a mother chosen from our midst. Sieger Koder, priest and painter, has offered us many beautiful images to show us that Christ is at the centre of our lives and that in his light we have no need to fear. We may approach God as the very children of God that we are; co-heirs with Christ himself (Rm 8:17).

This book opens with one of Sieger Koder's most beautiful images of creation. We see Christ as the fullness of God's creation and we accompany him on his journey into our world, to live as we do. By his death and resurrection he acts as a model and Saviour for us all. The passion of our planet is the passion of Christ himself 'and in his rising our hope of resurrection dawns' (Easter liturgy). Sieger Koder uses images of Scriptures and daily life to show that we can find God in everything - if only we have eyes to see. We feel privileged to offer you this rich reflection on Fr Koder's paintings in an accessible format and we hope it will be a valuable resource for you as the Spirit continues to open your understanding of the Scriptures in the gentle radiance of Christ our Morning Star.