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Article: Kindling the fire of compassion. (Ministries).(National Catholic Reporter)(Brief Article)(Editorial)
- Article from:
- National Catholic Reporter
- Article date:
- September 20, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 National Catholic Reporter. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Matthew Fox in his book Creation Spirituality describes compassion as "a kind of fire. St. Thomas Aquinas says it's the fire that Jesus came to set on the earth. It disturbs, it surprises, it ignites, it burns, it sears, and it warms. Compassion incinerates denial; it especially warms and melts cold hearts, cold structures, frozen minds and self-satisfied lifestyles. Those who are touched by compassion have their lives turned upside down. That's not necessarily a bad thing."
Ministry in the church is applied compassion. Ministry describes the ways we all find to reach out to others, to take that fire that has been kindled in our hearts and souls and ignite a ...