Centered: The Spirituality of Word on Fire
by Bishop Robert Barron
This book is a compilation of the most significant thoughts and reflections by Bishop Robert Barron, the founder of the Word on Fire Ministries. Written in nine chapters focusing on the key themes of life in the Church, the book is meant for reflective reading. It begins with the Christian theological traditions on the question of God as “Being itself.” From there he moves on to the uniqueness of Christianity as a relationship to the person of Jesus Christ and not as a philosophic system or religious ideology. Christian life is life in Christ, which again is a radically different way of seeing the world and our life. It is in this light that the Scriptures are to be understood. Barron’s views regarding the Church is a response to the secular world’s attitude. He clarifies the meaning of Evangelization in today’s world. In the concluding chapter Barron observes the present condition of the Church in the world. This is the frontier of today’s evangelization for the Church. As Jared Zimmerer notes in the Introduction to the book, it is meant to help evangelists understand the ethos of the Word on Fire. Its eight principles are lucidly explained: “unwavering Christocentrism; evangelization of the culture; special commitment to the new media; rooted in the Mystical Body; leading with beauty; affirmative orthodoxy; collaborative apostolate; and grounding in the Eucharist.”
The Death of Ivan Illych
by Leo Tolstoy (1886)
Tolstoy’s novella is one of the most profound fictional explorations of the fundamental questions of human life—relationships, suffering, death and spirituality. Written from his own deep conversion experience, Tolstoy offers a critical view of modern materialism, the soul-killing complacency and illusionism which is the life of many.
The main character is the middle-aged Ivan Illych, a top-ranking judge, who has successfully climbed the social and bureaucratic ladder of Czarist Russia through his hard work, single-mindedness and lack of empathy and close relationships with his family. His marriage itself has been a part of his social climbing project.
His world is shaken up by the discovery of an undiagnosed disease for which the doctors have no remedy. As his suffering increases, Illych realises that he is getting back what he has given to others—the indifference of his wife and daughter, as well as his colleagues, and the doctors who treat him impersonally.
At the very opening of the story, when Ilyich’s death is reported by his colleagues, it does not matter to anyone, except as an opportunity for promotion to the vacancy created by the death. When Ivan’s friend visits the dead man’s house, we get to hear Ilyich’s wife complaining about the husband’s constant screaming during the final stages. She is scheming to procure more pension on account of the husband’s untimely death. Ilyich’s daughter is only anxious about her forthcoming marriage. On the brink of death, Ilyich confronts his barren emotional life; his fear of death grows.
He realises that he had been leading life of self-deception. Death was something that he had hidden away like anyone else. As his condition worsens, there is a greater self-searching that leads Ivan through different stages of self-realisation to his spiritual conversion. His only emotional connection is with his son, who helplessly watches his father’s suffering. But Ivan experiences genuine love from a non-member of the family, a peasant name Gerasim, whose selfless attendance on his needs helps the dying man to change. He had valued the conventional things that society provided—his professional talents, wealth, fame. Ilyich accepts his illness and its consequences and realizes that the fault is in him and grabs his last opportunity to find peace. He reconciles with his wife, blesses his son. His reconciliation provides him a deep sense of joy and relief. He no longer fears death, because, for him, “death is finished.” The story is a deeply contemplative experience which paradoxically is as much about death as it is about how to live.
Prof Gigy Joseph
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