THE CHARCOAL FIRE (Jn 21:9-14) … the fire of charity among us
The texts published here are taken from the report that Sister Simona Brambilla, MC, Secretary of our Dicastery, gave to the Polish Conference of Major Superiors in September 2024.
Through four biblical icons, the challenges that Consecrated Life is called to live today are expressed.
1. THE CHARCOAL FIRE (Jn 21:9-14) … the fire of charity among us
When they climbed out on shore, they saw a charcoal fire with fish on it and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you just caught.” So Simon Peter went over and dragged the net ashore full of one hundred fifty-three large fish. Even though there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come, have breakfast.” And none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they realized it was the Lord. Jesus came over and took the bread and gave it to them, and in like manner the fish. This was now the third time Jesus was revealed to his disciples after being raised from the dead. (Jn 21:9-14)
The charcoal fire is the fire “of home,” of family. It is the fire of charity among us, of fraternity/sisterhood, of the warmth of strong and gentle bonds that kindle the heart and open it to the experience of God’s love, of the Lord’s closeness. How often, listening to consecrated men and women, dialoguing together, there emerges, powerful and heartfelt, the desire and need to grow in weaving bonds of this kind, bonds of fire, which are nourished by charity, blessing, benevolence, care, gentleness, attention, respect! What a longing we have for the charcoal fire! [...]
Jesus lighting and stoking the charcoal fire and preparing food for his own: a splendid image of the service of authority, that is, of the one who guards and nurtures the growth of the brothers and sisters. The word is derived from the Latin auctoritas, from the verb augere “to increase”. There is an unavoidable relationship that through the common root links this word to “autore”. Again, the main reference is to Latin. And among the various meanings of the Latin term auctor, as well as “the one who causes to grow”, there is “giving success” or the “leading to a happy, prosperous outcome”1. Authority unfolds its own meaning in humbly serving the “success” of the other person, that is, his or her growth and “happy outcome” as a human person, as a Christian, as a consecrated person, as a person called to Love. [...]
Our vocational identity is rooted in the warm and fruitful humus of brotherhood/sisterhood; the brotherhood/sisterhood that unites us beyond all borders, the brotherhood/sisterhood in humanity and the brotherhood/sisterhood in Christ, around the same charcoal fire. Let us rediscover the fragrance, the taste, the warmth, the harmony, the caress of brotherhood/sisterhood! We need it, each and every one!
1Cfr. P. Fallai, «Autorità»: tutti i segreti di una parola antica che ha tanti significati, 20 novembre 2020, https://www.corriere.it/scuola/20_novembre_25/autorita-tutti-segreti-una-parola-antica-che-ha-tanti-significati-70af4e26-2cde-11eb-a006-0b5f9624cb77.shtml