.
To the Jews who believed in him Jesus said:
‘If you make my word your home
you will indeed be my disciples,
you will learn the truth
and the truth will make you free.’
The heart of the home in years past was the hearth.
It was at the hearth that the family gathered for the warmth and light of the flame and the food that was prepared there.
The fire was treated with respect since the same flame which provided energy for the home could just as easily destroy it.
It is a tragedy that the fire so central at the Pentecost birth of the Church has too often been used by Christians to punish prophets and parishioners with burnings at the stake and firepower, and the more subtle but just as fatal fire and brimstone sermons that communicated human fears rather than divine love.
Six hundred years before Christ ,the warrior-king Nebuchadnezzar ordered that the young men who refused to worship false Gods “be thrown straight away into the burning fiery furnace.” Daniel 3
And so easily the greatest power of good ever unleashed on earth in Jesus Christ, God-with-us, is tragically abused to justify evil.
Most of us don’t have as much direct contact with naked flame today apart the occasional lighting of the recreational barbecue or a meditation candle.
While the fire of the hearth is no longer the centre of a family home, we are most at home where our heart dwells.
A person without a personal centre, an inner hearth where the fire of God’s love burns, giving light and warmth and nourishment, will succumb to every fad and fashion, a rudderless ship without direction. purpose or destination.
When we take time for prayer, often not in formal or vocal prayer but in relaxed contemplation are sitting at the hearth with Jesus, whose fire warms, whose light illumines and whose body sustains us in every moment.
“Contemplation is nothing else
but a secret,
peaceful,
and loving infusion of God,
which, if admitted,
will set the soul on fire with the Spirit of love.”
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FFF IN THE CAFE… Send your name and the name of a cafe or bar to john@fff.org.nz Scribble FFF on a table napkin, take a seat and wait.
DROP IN FOR A CHAT:
Wednesday 29 March 2023
10.30am at Cafe 28, 28 Cornwall St, Lower Hutt, (Directions) Catherine
Thursday 30 March 2023
10.30am at Zest Cafe Greeton 187 Chadwick Rd, Tauranga. (Directions) Frances
Monday 3 April 2023 (and every Monday)
10.00am at Moko (Kudos) in the Bush Inn Centre Christchurch (Directions) Trish
Tuesday 11 April 2023 (and second Tuesday of every month)
10.30am at Zenders 44 Hopkins Road, Newstead, Hamilton (Directions). Christina
Sunday 23 April 2023
11.00am at The Bakehouse 74 Main Street, Fairlie. (Directions) Fr. Tien Cao.
Thanks be to God.
This reflection brought back memories of my mother gathering us around the coal range for prayers on a stormy day when it was just too difficult to drive in from the country to Mass.
our fire was so often our gathering place for family prayer.
The hymns, Thy Word is a Lamp unto my Feet, and, Jesus Heart all Burning, come to mind.