“I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish I were
already blazing!” (Luke 12:49)
The Christian
will always be a symbol of division. In this world where the truth takes a back
seat to lies, where we are surrounded by a society that goes totally contrary
to what Christ taught us, anyone who speaks the truth of Christ will be seen as
a lunatic, as out of touch, as an outcast, as crazy as Christ appeared to many.
So when Jesus tells us that he has come
to set fire to the earth, what he is proposing is a spiritual flood, a little
bit different than the flood of Noah, but he seeks to make all things new. The
brush fires that we constantly see in the Everglades are natural, and they
clear away the old to make way for the new, for more vibrant vegetation and
life. That fire that Jesus desires is
meant to purify, to cleanse; to help us, as the second reading tells us, to “rid
ourselves of every burden of sin that clings to us and persevere in running the
race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus." That fire should help us detach from the
world, and live only for Christ.
If today
weren’t Sunday, we’d be celebrating the feast of St. Maximilian Kolbe. Here was a priest of the 20th
century who detached from the world with his eyes fixed solely on Jesus and the
Blessed Mother. This inclination, this
freedom he had is what allowed him to do what he did in probably the darkest
and most horrific place in human history: Auschwitz. Freed from everything of this world and
living only for Christ, St. Maximilian laid down his life for someone else. Having been arrested in Poland during the
Nazi occupation of World War II, St. Max was sent to Auschwitz. One day a prisoner escaped and the Nazis
ordered that ten random men be put to death as punishment for the escape. St. Max was not chosen, but there was a man
who was a husband and father who was chosen to die. St. Max volunteered to take his place which
the Nazis allowed. Even in the darkest
of places where God seemed to be absent, this priest brought the love of God
and became a sign of division, of hope, of the fire of the Holy Spirit that had
consumed his heart. St. Max lived out
one of his most famous sayings: “The poison of our times is indifference." He was not indifferent to the suffering
around him. He became a martyr and a
model for Christian life. He took the
gospel literally and laid down his life for a friend. This was a man who was sent to set the earth
on fire, and he did so by giving his life.
But how do we
set the earth on fire? How do we cause division? The Holy Father this morning said that this
gospel serves as a reminder that we need this fire in our Church lest we become
cold or lukewarm. People should feel a warm embrace when they come into church.
This comes from impassioned missionaries
of the gospel and not from once a week, punches the one-hour time clock
Catholic. All of us have a responsibility
to light this fire and to be the voice for the voiceless. Yes, following Jesus is difficult. It causes
division. Many families are already divided this morning because some chose to
come to Mass while others chose another priority. What can be more important than worshiping
Christ on his day, the Lord's Day? Set
the earth on fire even if it’s in your home. Don't be afraid. Be bold. And if
it causes division: good! We are doing what the Lord commanded. We are fulfilling
our baptismal call to be prophetic. Sure it may get us thrown into a
metaphorical cistern like Jeremiah in the first reading, but Jesus is always at
our side.
Did you know
that St. Max was the last to die in that death chamber? He encouraged his
fellow inmates. He prayed. He sang. He had no fear of death. Even
"defeated" he was setting the earth on fire until his last breath.
May we all learn from his example. We cannot be indifferent. We have to ask ourselves how we are helping
our parish grow and how we are setting the earth on fire for this is what our
Lord desires. May our parish always be a
place of warmth, of welcome, and may we bring the fire of Jesus onto the earth
to purify, restore, and give new life.
