Fr.
Tony’s Letter to the Trinitarians
June
2017
Ablaze
and Alive
“Be ablaze with enthusiasm.
Let us be a living burning offering before the altar of God.”-Hildegard of Bingen“Kindle in our hearts, O God,The flame of love that never ceases,That it may burn in us, giving light to others.May we shine in your temple,Set on fire with your eternal light,Even your Son Jesus Christ,Our savior and redeemer.”-St. Columba of Iona“Abba Lot went to see Abba Joseph and said to him, ‘Abba as far as I can I say my little prayer office, I fast a little, I pray and meditate, I live in peace and as far as I can, I purify my thoughts. What else can I do?’ Then the old man stood up and stretched his hands towards heaven. His fingers became like ten lamps of fire and he said to him, ‘If you really want to, you can become all flame.’”-Teachings of the Desert Fathers
As we go into the long summer
and autumn season after Pentecost and Trinity Sunday, we are encouraged to live
into our faith day to day. The symbol of
the Spirit’s Descent on Pentecost, tongues of flame, beckons us to come alive
and burst into flame ourselves, to become, like Moses’ famous bush marking the
presence of God, ever burning but never consumed.
The spirit, despite our inability
sometimes to even know or express what we desire or feel, makes God available
to us. “The spirit intercedes for us in groaning too deep for words” he
says. (Romans 8:22-27)
Paul elsewhere says this: “God … establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us, by putting his seal on us and giving us his Spirit in our hearts as a first installment” (2 Cor 1: 20-22). God’s Spirit in us is a seal, that is, a symbol and authenticating sign of the genuineness of our faith and the reliability of God’s promises. It is an “anointing,” like God pouring rich olive oil over us, also a sign of prodigal blessing, the one that made a person a king or a priest in ancient Israel. It is a “first installment” or “down payment” because, as good as it is, it is just a tiny part of all the glory to come. Elsewhere, Paul says that the presence of the Spirit in our lives is a guarantee of greater things to come (2 Cor. 5:6).
Paul elsewhere says this: “God … establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us, by putting his seal on us and giving us his Spirit in our hearts as a first installment” (2 Cor 1: 20-22). God’s Spirit in us is a seal, that is, a symbol and authenticating sign of the genuineness of our faith and the reliability of God’s promises. It is an “anointing,” like God pouring rich olive oil over us, also a sign of prodigal blessing, the one that made a person a king or a priest in ancient Israel. It is a “first installment” or “down payment” because, as good as it is, it is just a tiny part of all the glory to come. Elsewhere, Paul says that the presence of the Spirit in our lives is a guarantee of greater things to come (2 Cor. 5:6).
Paul tells us how we
can identify the Spirit in our hearts: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and
self-control.” (Gal 5: 16, 22)
The gentle confidence
given us by the Spirit makes us bold, but not pushy; joyous, but not
self-satisfied; self-controlled but not controlling. It makes us truly humble: not that we think less of ourselves, but that
we think of ourselves less.
Charles Wesley
described the presence of the Spirit as warmth in the heart. Following Jesus means following in his
enthusiasm, joy, and loving service. It
means, in the words of Abba Joseph, wholly becoming fire. And there is joy and calm in this.
Grace and peace,
Fr. Tony+
No comments:
Post a Comment