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Word on Fire
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In the year 480 A.D., the last of the rulers of what remained of the western Roman Empire, a man by the name of Julius Nepos, died, leaving one Roman emperor in the far off eastern city of Constantinople (for the first time in 95 years), and the old Roman empire in Europe in the midst of a deleterious decline. In this era of ever diminishing expectations, St. Benedict was born.
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Word on Fire
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On March 7, the Church commemorates the martyrs Perpetua and Felicity, along with their companions. These Christians were killed in the Roman Provinces of North Africa in the early third century A.D.
They were not alone, but shared the company of many Christians who were persecuted and killed during the early years of the Church’s life. The Church has persistently recalled the memory of the earliest martyrs.
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Word on Fire
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In these days, therefore, let us add something beyond ordinary expectations of our service. Let each one, over and above the measure prescribed, offer God something of his own freewill in the joy of the Holy Spirit. ~ Rule of St. Benedict, Sixth century
In roughly three weeks, Ash Wednesday will arrive and with this commemoration, the Church begins the penitential practices of Lent.
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Word on Fire
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The poet Wendell Berry reflects that “for parents, the only way is hard. We who give life, give pain. There is no help. Yet we who give pain give love; by pain we learn the extremity of love . . . ”
In other words, it may be different in another world, but in this world, all love requires a sacrifice, and with that sacrifice there is inevitable pain. To reject sacrifice as the condition for the possibility of love, is to live an essentially loveless existence.
Berry continues his reflection with this insight: I read of Christ crucified, the only begotten Son sacrificed to flesh and time and all our woe. He died and rose, but who does not tremble for his pain and loneliness, and the darkness of the sixth hour? Unless we grieve like Mary at his grave, giving him up as lost, no Easter morning comes . . .
