{"id":182,"date":"2009-04-17T00:53:48","date_gmt":"2009-04-17T00:53:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/frtonynoble.org\/wordpress\/?p=182"},"modified":"2009-04-17T00:53:48","modified_gmt":"2009-04-17T00:53:48","slug":"easter-eve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/frtonynoble.org\/?p=182","title":{"rendered":"Easter Eve"},"content":{"rendered":"

FIRE OF LOVE<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/em><\/strong>SERMON PREACHED BY FR. TONY NOBLE ON HOLY SATURDAY 2009<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

A spark ignites – a flame is kindled.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Soon a fire is lit. It may be the flame of a Californian wildfire, or an Aussie bushfire. Or it maybe the fire of a barbecue at home Or it may be the fire of love.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In the Song of Songs we find these words: “Love is strong as death; the flash of it is a flash of fire, a flame of the Lord himself”<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Tonight the flash of fire is the fire of the resurrection. Truly \u00a0<\/span>it is the fire of love and<\/strong> “a flame of the Lord himself”<\/em>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

A spark ignites – a flame is kindled.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>A humble flame in a brazier on our patio. But from it was lit the Paschal Candle – the great symbol of the resurrection of Christ.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>As it was carried into the Church with great solemnity how wonderfully it symbolised the resurrection. And we, all following, soon to have our own candles lit.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

As the Church became a sea of candles, and then came completely alight in that symphony of the Gloria – it truly did convey how the Light of the Risen Christ has come to us tonight.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>With organ and bells triumphant did the sanctuary of our Church come back to life – as surely as our Blessed Lord did on that first Easter night.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

A spark ignites – a flame is kindled.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>It is the light of Christ. It is the light of love.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Saint John prophesied this night in the prologue to his Gospel: “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness comprehendeth it not”<\/em>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

A spark ignites – a flame is kindled.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>It is the same flame that led God’s people through the Sinai wilderness for 40 years.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>That Passover from death to life was the prologue of Moses to this Passover of the Lord.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>God rescued his people from slavery not because they deserved his love – but because He is love.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Now we see in the Resurrection of Christ that God’s love is indeed “Love as strong as death”<\/em>.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

A spark ignites – a flame is kindled.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Then comes the water – water of Baptism, water of new life.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>We – the new Israel – are saved through the waters of the Red Sea again, as Jesus leads us through death to life by his Resurrection, and in the Sacrament of Baptism.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Tonight we bless the waters of the Font and renew our baptismal promises, because Baptism was when we first received the new life of Christ – resurrection life, eternal life.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Because this life can be dimmed or subdued by our daily living, we renew again our promises to believe and follow Christ, as we come again to celebrate his resurrection.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

A spark ignites – a flame is kindled.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>It is the spark and flame of our life, our hope, our love. Love that is “As strong as death”<\/em> – the death of Jesus. That is the flash of fire that is a “flame of the Lord himself”<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

God has become Man, has been crucified, and has risen again from the dead. That flame can never be extinguished. It is the fire of Christ – “that Morning Star who came back from the dead, and shed his perfect light on all mankind”<\/em>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

A spark ignites – a flame is kindled.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>It is here!\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>The Lord is Risen indeed!\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Alleluia!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FIRE OF LOVE \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 SERMON PREACHED BY FR. TONY NOBLE ON HOLY SATURDAY 2009 \u00a0 A spark ignites – a flame is kindled.\u00a0\u00a0 Soon a fire is lit. It may be the flame of a Californian wildfire, or an Aussie bushfire. Or it maybe the fire of a barbecue at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/frtonynoble.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/frtonynoble.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/frtonynoble.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/frtonynoble.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/frtonynoble.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/frtonynoble.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/frtonynoble.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/frtonynoble.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/frtonynoble.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}