By MICHAEL WOJCIK
News Editor

STIRLING - Jesus spent a great deal of his time in homes, where he met people, taught, healed and forgave.

That's according to Allan Wright, a parishioner of St. Vincent de Paul Parish here, in his new book "Jesus in the House: Gospel Reflections on Christ's Presence in the Home." Not only does Wright reflect on some of Jesus' lessons in the home but, also he offers parents suggestions about praying and reading Scriptures at home, setting aside "family time," living out faith in their daily lives and developing activities that cultivate a faith-filled home.

Here are some of Wright's insights and recommendations.

Home: a 'common experience'

Wright gives modern families hope and encouragement. Each chapter ends with a prayer related to the topic, reflection questions that help readers probe the topic more deeply and a set of "Chapter Challenges" that invite readers to make little changes to help them improve their family lives and their faith lives. "The home is a common experience for everyone - it's were we eat, sleep, interact with others and live," said Wright. "I'm hoping the lessons of this book will be backed up by parental interest. The children need to see their parents who are living the faith, praying and going to church."

Home: a teaching place

Returning a time more than 2,000 years ago, Wright notes that the telling of many of Jesus' parables and teachings took place in someone's home, as detailed the chapter, "The Home Is a Place of Teaching." Jesus was approachable...[and] was present and the disciples felt comfortable approaching him and were able to go deeper in their faith with him," said Wright. "Without a doubt, [the disciples] had a feeling of being special because Jesus took the time to explain the parable in detail to them," he said. These lessons can come in handy for parents at home, which the Catholic Church calls the "domestic church," the first place children hear the Gospels proclaimed - by both word and deed. Wright adds, "Homes should be the first place where faith is taught and where parents are the primary teachers of the faith."

To guide parents toward those aims, Wright suggests they institute family time for daily prayer, Scripture meditation and listening to good music "to hear the word of God." In his "Chapter Challenges," the author suggests that readers try to listen twice as much as they speak and to "take special care to list to those family members who often go unnoticed."

Home: a place of healing

The importance and power of forgiveness and healing also often go unnoticed in the home, as Wright writes in the chapter "The Home Is a Place of Forgiveness and Healing." He recalls the Gospel story (Mk 2:1-12), when a paralyzed man was brought to Jesus at a home. The Messiah said to the man, "Son, your sins are forgiven," and then commanded, "Stand up... and go to your home." "Can you imagine the walk back to the once-paralyzed man's home?" writes Wright. "On the other side I hear the shuffling of feet and then as the door opens wide, his mother stands there in awe, speechless. He steps forward, puts his arms around his mother and squeezes her tight for perhaps the first time in years," he writes. The joy the paralyzed man and his family must have experienced attests to a salient fact - there is "an intimate connection between forgiveness and healing," Wright writes.

"I do believe that what affects the spirit affects the body," writes Wright. "The phrase, 'confession is good for the soul' does seem to have some validity. The same goes for forgiveness," he writes.