Most of us are afraid of fire, whether it be the fire that destructively burns on this earth, or the fire that burns eternally. In this passage, however, Jesus was not speaking about it in this way, but rather that which would require us to lose our very lives to save our soul. It is a living fire that leaps up to the glory of God, a consuming fire that melts all that resists his loving embrace.
Christian life can often be reduced to good feelings, successful community gatherings, projects and programs, getting along, doing a kind deed or contributing time, talent, and treasure. Jesus himself defines Christian life in another way:
“I am fire! I wish to blaze across the earth, setting the whole world on fire with this love that burns in my most Sacred Heart! I don’t want anything or anyone to be lost! I will hand myself over to the cross and death, bitter humiliation, loneliness and loss if only this fire will push men and women beyond the limits they have set for themselves, the boundaries by which they protect their own interests. How I desire that they break out of the personal worlds of their own making, and step into the Kingdom revealed by my Father.”
We encounter this raging fire through those sudden insights, shifts in conversion, and overwhelming moments of wonder that surprise us. We know they are not our own. Something is happening to us. Someone is pouring fire into us. Augustine, in his famous words written in the Confessions, talks about one of these moments of his own: “You called, shouted, broke through my deafness; You flared, blazed, banished my blindness; You lavished Your fragrance, I gasped, and now I pant for You; I tasted You, and I hunger and thirst; You touched me, and I burned for Your peace.”
Each of us, in our own way, have had at least one of these experiences with divine Mystery that has ignited a fire within us. A powerful way to begin prayer is to return to these moments. To relive them. To reread them if we have journalled about the experience. To share with God what we appreciate about them. This is how Jesus continues to cast fire on the earth through our life and to call us out into the uncharted adventure of his blazing love.
“Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire” (St. Catherine of Siena).
La mayoría de nosotros tenemos miedo del fuego, ya sea el fuego que arde destructivamente en esta tierra o el fuego que arde eternamente. En este pasaje, sin embargo, Jesús no estaba hablando de él de esta manera, sino más bien del que requeriría que perdiéramos la propia vida para salvar el alma. Es un fuego vivo que brinca hacia la gloria de Dios, un fuego consumidor que derrite todo lo que se resiste a su abrazo amoroso.
La vida cristiana a menudo se puede reducir a buenos sentimientos, reuniones comunitarias, proyectos y programas exitosos, llevarse bien, hacer una buena acción o contribuir con el tiempo, talento y tesoro. Jesús mismo define la vida cristiana de otra manera:
“¡Soy fuego! ¡Quiero arder por toda la tierra, prendiendo fuego al mundo entero con este amor que arde en mi Sagrado Corazón! ¡No quiero que nada ni nadie se pierda! Me entregaré a la cruz y a la muerte, a la amarga humillación, a la soledad y a la pérdida si solo este fuego empuja a los hombres y mujeres más allá de los límites que se han fijado, los límites con los que protegen sus propios intereses. Cómo deseo que ellos se liberen de los mundos personales que ellos mismos han creado y entren en el Reino revelado por mi Padre”.
Encontramos este fuego ardiente a través de esas repentinas percepciones, cambios en la conversión y momentos abrumadores de asombro que nos sorprenden. Sabemos que no son nuestros. Algo nos está sucediendo. Alguien está derramando fuego en nosotros. Agustín, en sus famosas palabras escritas en las Confesiones, habla de uno de estos momentos propios: “Me llamaste y clamaste, y quebraste mi sordera; brillaste y resplandeciste, y curaste mi ceguera; exhalaste tu perfume, y lo aspiré, y ahora te anhelo; gusté de ti, y ahora siento hambre y sed de ti; me tocaste, y deseo con ansia la paz que procede de ti.”
Cada uno de nosotros, a nuestra manera, ha tenido al menos una de estas experiencias con el Misterio divino que ha encendido un fuego dentro de nosotros. Una forma poderosa de comenzar la oración es volver a estos momentos. Revivirlos. Releerlos si hemos escrito en un diario sobre la experiencia. Compartir con Dios lo que apreciamos de ellos. Así es como Jesús continúa arrojando fuego sobre la tierra a través de nuestra vida y nos llama a la aventura inexplorada de su amor ardiente.
“Sé quien Dios quiso que fueras y prenderás fuego al mundo” (Santa Catalina de Siena).
Sr. Kathryn James Hermes, FSP, is an author and offers online evangelization as well as spiritual formation for people on their journey of spiritual transformation and inner healing. Website: www.touchingthesunrise.com My Books: https://touchingthesunrise.com/books/
Public Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/srkathrynhermes/ HeartWork Spiritual Formation Group: https://touchingthesunrise.com/heartwork/
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