ON FIRE FOR JESUS

Fr. Neil Xavier O'Donoghue, a priest of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey, wrote in a recent blog (Pray Tell: Worship, Wit & Wisdom, March 22, 2020) about Fr. Simon Beach, a Church of England priest of St. Budeaux Parish Church in Plymouth, England, who was recording his first “virtual” service. Watch his video below.

What else are we to do in these unusual circumstances?
“The 61 year old has not had a lot of experience with recording himself while preaching and was preaching with a backdrop of a cross and candles. But he had to end his sermon early with the comment, ‘Oh dear; I’ve just caught fire.’ Indeed, his sweater had caught fire from the candles in the backdrop. Fortunately no harm was done and his fellow vicars have been teasing him with jokes about “being on fire for Jesus” and telling him that he “should have waited for Pentecost.”
My prayer is that, as we navigate the current situation in which we live, we be on fire for Jesus—and that we always have a sense of humor in the midst of it all!

Dominique Peridans