Not long ago, I read the best-selling book, by Michael O'Brien,"Father Elijah" about the coming war between the forces of secularism and the Church. It was so well written and engrossing, that I quickly searched for another book by this outstanding author.
Now, I'm reading his novel about First Century Christianity, titled, "Theophilos", about the call and mission of the apostle and evangelist, Luke.
I'm not half-way through it yet, but there is an extraordinary paragraph about the true meaning and essense of evangelization, that I just have to share. It is written almost poetically.
It brought me to tears.
Luke is only about 15 years old at this time in the narrative, and he has just had an awe-inspiring prophetic dream that he shares with his adoptive parents. It can be a model, I hope and pray , for the New Evangelization. Here is how he describes his dream:
" Suddenly, above me in the air there appears a very beautiful bird--a species I have never seen before, and maybe it does not exist in this world. Its color is not a reflection of the sun but glows from within--bright blue. It is smaller than a sparrow. It hovers above my head, and then it descends, growing and growing in size as it nears me, and when it perches on my shoulder it has become very great, though very gentle. It speaks into my ear, but I do not know its language. It keeps speaking, and its language becomes singing that enters into my heart, and then it flows through my heart and out again through my mouth. I cannot tell you what it is really like. It pours like warm oil, like water, like light, but it is my own voice speaking words. As I begin speaking in this new way, all those in the room hear it not only with their minds but with their hearts. It is so beautiful. It is nearly unbearable, this beauty and I wake up."
from "Theophilos" by Michael O'Brien
0 comments:
Post a Comment