Corpus Christi Blog

Being set on fire, not lukewarm

06-09-2019HomiliesFr. Chad King

Friends, in prayerful preparation for this homily on this feast of Pentecost, my heart rested on the image described in one of the first verses from our 1st reading from Acts: that of the Holy Spirit, in the image of fire, descending upon Mary and the Disciples gathered in the upper room. Reflecting on the image of Fire, I thought about the story of Moses and the Burning Bush- the burning bush represented the presence of God through which God spoke to Moses, the bush was on fire, but it was not being consumed. I thought about other places in Scripture that the Lord is portrayed as a ‘purifying fire’. And I thought of the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus which always has a flame coming from it. Indeed, the Heart of God is burning with love for us, always wanting to ignite us.

I was also reminded of something Jesus said in the Scriptures (Lk 12:49). Jesus said, “I have come to set the world on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!” Jesus desperately wants to set the people of the earth on fire with His burning merciful love. With this Scripture, the image of the Holy Spirit as fire descending upon the disciples makes perfect sense. After all, recall the last verse of today’s Gospel, “the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you”. Therefore, the Holy Spirit’s role is to remind us what Jesus said and the purpose of Him being sent. Jesus was sent to reveal the Father and bring the world back to the Father, and that is what Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension made possible for us. Therefore, the Holy Spirit is given in order to accomplish this possibility in us- that is to help us to repent and receive the saving love and mercy of God. And as we repent and receive the purifying love of God, so Jesus then says to us: “as the Father sent me, so I send you”. In other words, the Holy Spirit is given to empower us to continue Jesus’ mission- to reveal the purifying love and mercy of the Father to a world that is hurting and in desperate need of love and mercy.

So, I ask you, as I ask myself, are we set on fire with the Holy Spirit? Perhaps you’re thinking you believe and love God and come to Mass, but aren’t really sure what it looks like to really be on fire with the Holy Spirit and the love of God. To begin to answer that, we can look at our intentions, do you come to Mass out of obligation or sense of duty? Or are you desiring, excited to come to Mass? Likewise, is prayer something you do because you should, or do you look forward to your prayer time, longing to be with God? Another way to help you answer that all important question if you are on fire with the Holy Spirit, is to reflect upon another Scripture verse. This just might be the scariest verse in all of Scripture, it comes from the book of Revelations 3. “I know your works; I know that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot. But because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of my mouth”. Let’s reflect on that convicting verse. God says that He wishes we were either hot or cold. But why would God wish we were cold, isn’t lukewarm better than being cold? But instead it says God will vomit that which is lukewarm. If God is fire, God is burning heat. God cannot have within Him that which wants to be lukewarm. And, we are made in the image and likeness of God, we are made to be hot, we are made to be on fire, so to speak. And so, think of it this way, people who are cold, who are away from God- they often recognize that they are cold, they know that they are missing something in life- indeed they are missing the burning love of God! And God can work with someone who wants to be caught on fire! But those who are lukewarm are comfortable and satisfied, they are content with where they are. They think they are good enough and become complacent in their spiritual lives. My brothers and sisters, God is fire. We are made to be on fire, not lukewarm. But if we do not want to become caught up in God’s burning love, then we won’t. If we are settling, comfortable with being lukewarm, thinking we are good enough, then God will vomit us out of Himself. Therefore, in the end, there is either being Hot or Cold. It all depends on what we are striving for, if we are striving to be lukewarm but not Hot, then we will end up in icy cold Hell for all eternity. But to be in Heaven, we must be on fire, consumed by God’s love. God will give us what we desire, but we must not settle for being lukewarm, but we must desire to be with God, to be set on fire with His ever-burning love. So now I ask you again, are you set on fire or are you lukewarm- complacent, comfortable in your spiritual life? Or perhaps you have been cold? Regardless of whether you are cold or lukewarm right now, the important thing is what are you currently striving for? Are you striving to be hot, or content with being lukewarm? Do you want to be set on fire by the Holy Spirit? If you do, from your heart tell the Holy Spirit right now, that you want to be set on fire, that you want to know what it feels like to be on fire instead of just lukewarm. You will know you are on fire when the Mass, and prayer, takes on a new meaning and purpose, and there is a deeper longing in your heart than ever before. As your hearts grows more closer to His burning heart, you will be set on fire.

There is another Scripture verse which speaks about how to be set on fire. After the Death of Jesus, 2 disciples had lost hope and were going back to Emmaus, to their old way of life. The Resurrected Jesus met, walked, and talked with them, though they did not recognize it was Jesus. On the way, beginning with Moses and the Prophets, Jesus interpreted to them what referred to Him in all the Scriptures. And when they had arrived home, they asked Jesus to stay with them and share a meal together. During the meal, Jesus took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them, and at that their eyes were opened, and they recognized it was Jesus. And they said, “were not our hearts burning within us while He spoke to us and opened the Scriptures to us?” Their hearts were caught on fire with love when the Scriptures were opened to them and they realized that Jesus fulfilled Moses and all the prophets. In other words, the dots of the Old Testament, the dots of salvation history, were all connected, and the disciples recognized that it all revealed Jesus Resurrected in front of them. They came to realize that God had an amazing plan of salvation, and He was in control the whole time always accomplishing it for those who let Him, and now God wanted them to be part of it. The same for us, my brothers and sisters, the Holy Spirit opens the Scriptures for us, if we read, learn, and study the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit connects the dots to reveal Jesus who is the fulfillment of all the Scriptures. Just this past week someone who has been praying the 33 day Consecration to Jesus through Mary with the parish said that through that and the other faith formation opportunities they’ve been taking advantage of that their faith they were raised in now is making more sense, the dots are being connected and they are desiring more and more.

So again, I ask you, are you lukewarm, or are you on fire with God’s love. Do you want to be set on fire and burn even hotter by the Holy Spirit? Some of you might be thinking, I think I used to be on fire, but now it has been dying out. Let’s continue with the image of a fire for a second more- we know that a lot of paper, for example, gives a big flame but that it burns quickly and doesn’t last. And when wood is placed upon a flame, the flame can become smaller until it heats up the wood and then it is a long slow burn, and when more and more wood is given, then it becomes a long-lasting, big, raging fire. So, it is in our spiritual lives, there are highs and lows. The Holy Spirit knows what we need to be on fire, He knows how the fire in our hearts needs to be stoked. The key to becoming and remaining on fire, is to continually put more and more wood onto the flame. Each and every day of your life, pray and tell the Holy Spirit that you want to be on fire with God’s purifying love. Spend time in prayer everyday, reflecting and ask the Holy Spirit to open your heart and reveal whatever is not of Him and needs to be purified, and then surrender your heart and rest in His burning heart in love for you. Every Sacrament- in particular regular confession, and Mass every Sunday at least is stoking the flame of our hearts. Friends, the Eucharist is the Sacred Heart of the burning love of God, the Eucharist is the Burning Bush- ever burning never being consumed- therefore, the more time we spend in Adoration with longing and reflecting hearts, the more our hearts will begin to burn like Christ’s. Likewise, the more we take the opportunities to read, pray with, and study the Scriptures, the more we will come to know the burning love God has for us. The more time we take to learn, share, and grow in our faith, then the dots will be more and more connected, and we will be on fire caught up in God’s amazing plan of salvation for ourselves and for others. If we are desiring more and more, and taking every opportunity through prayer, the Sacraments, growing and sharing our faith, then the more wood will be placed upon the flame of our hearts. And God won’t let the flame of our hearts die out or become lukewarm if we are truly desiring and striving to be on fire, and our hearts will be burning for all eternity in God’s burning love for us. Come Holy Spirit, make every heart set on fire and ever-burning with your love.

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