"I have a working fireplace at home, a comforting convenience in the
cold, dark days of winter. It's not used often, but mostly during the
holidays or when I have visitors.
"A few weeks back, when a fire had been burning for a while and was
just about dead, I took a fireplace tool, poked the log until it fell
apart, and then stepped back and watched the fire burst into a robust
mini-inferno. Impressive, I thought, how much energy was left in that
nearly-spent log.
"And I also thought about the words of St. Paul to Timothy: 'I remind
you to stir into flame the gift of God that you have through the
imposition of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice,
but rather of power and love and self-control.' (II Tim 1: 6-7) And then
it occurred to me - there still must be a lot of energy in the Church
too, if only we could bring the flame to life again."
In a recent commentary, Bishop Thomas J. Tobin, of the Diocese of Providence
(RI), reflected on the importance of stirring our faith into flame
To access Bishop Tobin's complete essay, please visit:
The Imitation of Christ: Stir Into Flame (17 JAN 19)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment