We didn’t start the fire, it was always burning since the world was turning; so says the talented Billy Joel.
Fire gives us energy, light and warmth; it can help give and renew life. Yet fire can also destroy and threaten. Fire must be handled carefully and properly so that it may be a help to us and not do harm.
As people of faith, who are called to be all God meant us to be and set the world on fire. (By the way, this is a direct quote from that great Saint and Doctor of the Church: St. Catherine of Siena).
In His own words Jesus says that he comes to set the earth on fire and how I wish it were already burning; shocking, harsh perhaps? What is this fire of which Jesus speaks? It is the fire of the love, mercy and justice of Jesus; it is life affirming, life giving and life changing.
Jesus transforms each of us, individually and as a Body of Believers by the fire of His love. It began at our Baptism, which is the Baptism of Christ, which includes His Cross. Cooperating with the grace of our baptism, and the other sacraments, the fire of His love makes us new, reborn, new life in God’s holy and perfect will.
What about all that division Jesus just talked about; isn’t Jesus the Prince of Peace? Jesus is offering all of us a tough reminder to allow nothing, or no one, and that means no one, to keep us from the fire of His love. If we are on fire for Jesus, if we are on fire for the faith, if we are on fire for spending eternity in Heaven, with Jesus, than no one and nothing should get in the way; not our most prized possession or habit or hobby and not even the people we love on earth. If we are on fire for Jesus, then we love Him most and will never allow friend, or spouse, or child, or sibling, or parent, or my favorite athlete, or actor, or politician or anybody or anything to love Him less, to follow Him incompletely; to be on fire for love of Him.
Recently, a very respected organization shared with Church leadership that 26% of Catholics under age 40 and 31% overall do not believe that the Eucharist is the real presence of Jesus. How can this be? If this be true, can we say we are truly on fire for the love of Christ? Now surely these numbers are not reflective of all us gathered here in this Church to worship God, to hear His Holy word and to receive Jesus, body, blood, soul and divinity in Holy Communion. Yet probably we all know someone with these doubts, we all know someone who has lost the faith, we all know someone who is not on fire for Jesus. Would they say that in us they see someone who is on fire for the Lord, do we witness the love of Christ in the Eucharist we receive? Is our fire for His love manifest in the many prayers and acts of kindness, modeled after Jesus Himself, offered every day for those not on fire? I have come to set the world on fire and how I wish it were already burning!
Yes, there is plenty church leadership can and must do to help stoke the fire of all those who are lukewarm. But for our part, we must witness our own fire for Jesus to others. For us, we must quit going along to just get along and we must quit loving those we love with a love that is weak, love them instead with a love borne of the fire of Jesus, the king of love that can help them get to Heaven.
We didn’t start the fire, it was always burning since the world was turning; but we can build and burn that fire of Jesus, in our hearts, in our lives, and set the whole world on fire.
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