Pastor's Points: Sacred Fire

Sacred Fire

At the end of January, I had the chance to make a personal retreat. Upon the recommendation of my spiritual director, I took a book with me by Fr. Ronald Rolheiser entitled Sacred Fire. You may be familiar with one of Fr. Rolheiser’s previous books The Holy Longing. Sacred Fire is a follow up to this book.

These two books attempt to look at stages of discipleship. The Holy Longing dealt with the first stage which the author entitles “Essential Discipleship and the Struggle to Get Our Lives Together.” In this stage we struggle to find our own identity and the fulfillment of peace there. Sacred Fire deals with the second stage of “Mature Discipleship and the Struggle to Give Our Lives Away.” There will be a book one day about Rolheiser’s third stage, which he calls “Radical Discipleship and the Struggle to Give our Deaths Away.”

For most people Mature Discipleship occurs in our twenties or thirties but, as the author notes:

“...some of us might be in our forties, fifties, or even sixties before we cross the threshold between struggling to get our lives together as opposed to give our lives away. Moreover, for all of us, the crossover is never pure and complete. The struggle for self-identity and private fulfillment never completely goes away; we are always somewhat haunted by the restlessness of our youth and our own idiosyncratic needs, but the essential default line shifts. At a certain point, we are more fundamentally concerned with life beyond us than with ourselves.”

In Sacred Fire, Rolheiser gives a summary of The Holy Longing and then takes the reader through some scriptural reflections: how we can draw strength from prayer, how we can be a blessing to others, and how to re-envision the Ten Commandments for the Long Haul. In the final chapter, Rolheiser gives a vision of what that final stage of discipleship might look like as we give our deaths away.

As we walk through this Lenten Season, Sacred Fire might be a good book for your reading consideration. In the past I have suggested not giving something up for Lent like candy or wine. Rather, I invited you to think about giving away physical things that might clutter your closest and your life. It is a healthy thing. If you buy a new coat, give one away. We are meant to give our lives away as well but it takes a while to realize that. We have to figure life out first, then live it in such a way that it is life-giving so that in the end, when all is said and done, we can ultimately die in a way that continues to give life to others.

I would recommend Sacred Fire for your reading and discernment about how to best live your life of discipleship. You can find it on Amazon.com.