I Came To Cast Fire On Earth

By Fr. Conor Donnelly

(Proofread)

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

My Lord and my God, I firmly believe that you are here, that you see me, that you hear me. I adore you with profound reverence. I ask your pardon for my sins and grace to make this time of prayer fruitful. My Immaculate Mother, Saint Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

We’re told in St. Luke, “I came to cast fire upon the earth, and would that it were already enkindled” (Luke 12:49). We can see the divine zeal of Christ for all souls. Just like any true friend, Our Lord reveals His most intimate thoughts to His disciples. He tells them of His zeal for the salvation of all souls. He has a holy impatience to ignite and to offer His holocaust to the Father on Calvary for the sake of mankind.

He says, “I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how I am constrained until it is accomplished!” (Luke 12:50). There on the Cross the fullness of God’s love for His creatures was made manifest.

We’re told in St. John, “Greater love than this no man has, that he lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). We prove that we are Christ’s friends if we struggle to follow Him.

St. Augustine commented, “People who believe in him are enkindled. They receive the flame of charity. That is why the Holy Spirit appeared in that form at Pentecost. We’re told in the Acts of the Apostles: ‘And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them’ (Acts 2:3). Set aflame by this fire, the apostles set out across the entire world to inflame others, including their enemies.

“Who were the enemies? That included those who had forsaken God their Creator for the worship of man-made idols.” St. Augustine says, “The faith of such as these has been smothered to ashes. It is good for them that they be set alight by this holy flame, so that they might once again shine forth in Christ’s glory” (Augustine, Commentary on Psalm 96,6).

This crucial task of setting the world on fire has been passed on to today’s Christians. This fire of love and peace will strengthen and purify souls.

Our Lord wants us to go to the factories, into public life, to our own homes, to schools and universities.

Chiara Lubich says, “If someone were to set fires at different locations throughout a city, even though they were modest fires, they would quickly consume the whole metropolis.

“Likewise, if in a city, at strategic points one were to ignite the hearts of the inhabitants with the fire that Jesus brought to the world, then the goodwill of those people would quickly overrun the city, lighting it up with the love of God. The fire Jesus has brought to the world is himself. It is the fire of love. This is the love which not only unites souls to God but unites souls to one another.

“In each city, these souls shall emerge from families: father and mother, son and father, mother and mother-in-law. This phenomenon can take place in parish life, in organizations, in schools, in offices, anywhere.

“Each small flame for God necessarily kindles other flames. Divine Providence takes care to distribute these souls on fire where they can best serve the process. Through their action, many places in the world will be restored to the warmth of the love of God and renewed hope” (Chiara Lubich, Meditations).

Our apostolate in the middle of the world should spread like a flame of peace, like wildfire. Each Christian who lives their faith seriously can become a point of ignition at his or her place of work, among friends and acquaintances, wherever they may be.

But this phenomenon will only occur when we make concrete the advice St. Paul gave to the Philippians when he said, “Have this mind among you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5).

“The Apostle,” says Pope Pius XII, “challenges all Christians to live out in their lives, as much as possible, those sentiments which filled the Divine Redeemer when he offered himself up as a sacrifice. Imitate his humility and present to God Almighty all the adoration, honor, praise, and thanksgiving” (Pius XII, Encyclical, Mediator Dei, Point 81, November 20, 1947).

This offering is carried out primarily in the Mass, the unbloody renewal of the Sacrifice of Calvary.

The Second Vatican Council teaches in regard to the laity: “For all their works, prayers, and apostolic endeavors, their ordinary married and family life, their daily occupations, their physical and mental relaxation, if carried out in the Spirit, and even in the hardships of life, if patiently borne—all these become ‘spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ’ (1 Pet. 1:1)” (Vatican II, Lumen Gentium, 34, November 21, 1964).

The Council continues in Lumen Gentium: “Together with the offering of the Lord’s body, they are most fittingly offered in the celebration of the Eucharist. As those everywhere who adore in holy activity, the laity consecrate the world itself to God” (ibid.).

Christian life ought to be an imitation of the life of Christ, a participation in His divine Sonship. Through this way of life, we will learn from Jesus how to relate to other people.

We’re told in St. Matthew, “When Jesus saw the multitude, he had compassion on them…for they were like sheep without a shepherd” (Matt. 9:36). Life held no meaning for them.

Jesus had compassion on these people. His love was so great that He went to the extent of giving up His life for them and us on the Cross. This is the divine love which should fill our hearts.

Then we too will have compassion on the people around us who perhaps have strayed from the Lord. With the help of God’s grace and our genuine friendship, hopefully we will bring them back to the Master.

In the Mass a surging current of divine love is transmitted from the Son to the Father through the Holy Spirit. The follower of Our Lord participates in this love because he or she is incorporated in Christ. The Christian then extends this love to other people and to all earthly realities, which are thereby sanctified and made into a fitting offering to God.

Our apostolate should have its roots in the Mass and should from there draw its efficacy, because the Mass is nothing less than the realization of the Redemption in our time by means of apostolic Christians.

St. Josemaría says in Friends of God, “Jesus came on earth to redeem everyone because he ‘wished all men to be saved’ (1 Tim. 2:4). There is not a single soul to whom Christ is not interested. Each soul has cost him the price of his Blood (cf. 1 Pet. 1:18-19)” (Josemaría Escrivá, Friends of God, Point 256).

If we truly imitate Our Lord’s example, we’ll never be indifferent towards any soul.

When a Christian participates in the Mass, their prayers should be concerned first of all with their brothers and sisters in the faith. The Christian should feel more and more closely united to them in the “bread of life” and in “the cup of eternal salvation.”

This is the time to pray for everyone, and especially for those who are most in need. We should grow in the spirit of charity and fraternity “because the Eucharist makes us all one. As a consequence, we treat one another as family. The Eucharist unites the children of God into one family, closely related to Christ and to one another,” says Chiara Lubich (op. cit., The Eucharist).

Following this unique encounter with Our Lord, we’ll experience the same joy as was felt by the sick in Palestine once they had been cured by Jesus. They were so overjoyed at this manifestation of God’s mercy that they went about the towns and villages of Palestine singing Our Lord’s praises.

When the Christian receives Communion at Mass, he should be moved to share this wonderful grace with others. Each encounter with the Lord brings with it this joy as well as the need to communicate it to other people. This was how Christianity grew so quickly in its early years. It spread like a conflagration of peace and love which no one could extinguish.

We could make a resolution to center our life on the Mass. Then we will find peace and serenity throughout the course of our day. We’ll want to let our friends know about the treasure of this sacrament.

“If we attend Mass well,” says St. Josemaría, “surely we are likely to think about Our Lord during the rest of the day, wanting to be always in his presence, ready to work as he worked and to love as he loved. And so we learn to thank Our Lord for his kindness in not limiting his presence to the time of the sacrifice of the altar. He has decided to stay with us in the Host which is reserved in the tabernacle” (J. Escrivá, Christ Is Passing By, Point 154).

The tabernacle should be a Bethany for us. [St. Josemaría] said it is “a quiet and pleasant place where Christ resides. A place where we can tell him about our worries, our sufferings, our desires, our joys, with the same sort of simplicity and naturalness as Martha, Mary, and Lazarus” (ibid.). We will find in the Tabernacle the strength we need to do Our Lord’s work.

In union with many other Christians (cf. Andrés Vásquez de Prada, The Founder of Opus Dei, Volume I), we can repeat those words and meditate on them frequently: “I came to cast fire upon the earth, and would that it were already enkindled” (Luke 12:49). This is the fire of divine love which will bring peace and joy to souls, to families, and to society as a whole.

In Scripture, we’re also told about the net that the fishermen cast out. The net is like an image of the Church, containing as it does both the just and sinners. We hear a lot about the parables of the Kingdom of Heaven: the hidden treasure, the pearl of great value found by the enterprising merchant, and also the great net thrown into the sea, which brings in all kinds of fish—some good and others not so good, some bad (Matt. 13:44-52).

The fishermen throw the good fish into vessels. The bad fish are discarded. The net thrown into the sea is an image of the Church, which holds both the just and sinners.

Our Lord teaches this same idea on many occasions. His Church contains saints as well as sinners, His friends, and those others who abandon the house of the Father to waste the inheritance received in Baptism. Yet all belong to the Church, although in different ways.

“While ‘Christ: holy, innocent, undefiled,’ as St. Paul says to the Hebrews (Heb. 7:26), knew nothing of sin (2 Cor. 5:21), but came only to expiate the sins of people (cf. Heb. 2:17), the Church,” says Lumen Gentium, “clasping sinners to her bosom, at once holy and always in need of purification, follows constantly the path of penance and renewal” (Lumen Gentium, 8).

No matter what sins they commit, sinners continue to belong to the Church since spiritual goods still subsist in them—goods such as the indelible character received in Baptism and Confirmation, the theological virtues of faith and hope, along with the charity that reaches them by reason of all the Christians struggling to be saints.

Just as a sick or paralyzed part of the body receives assistance from the rest of the body, so it is with the Mystical Body of Christ.

One writer comments, “The Church continues to live in her children who may not be in the state of grace. The Church seeks to work against the evil that corrupts their souls. She struggles to keep them in her fold, to bring them back to life with her love. She conserves them as one conserves a treasure not easily parted from.

“It is not because she wants to carry around dead weight. She only hopes that through the power of patience, gentleness, and pardon, the sinner will make their return to her. It is like the withered branch which for lack of sap is allowed time to regain health and flower once more” (Charles Cardinal Journet, Theology of the Church).

The Church does not forget for one single day that she is a Mother. She continually prays for her children who are ill. She waits with infinite patience. She seeks to help them with abundant charity.

We try to bring to Our Lord our prayers, works, joys, and sufferings for the sake of those who belong to the Church but who do not participate fully in the life of grace. We should especially keep in mind those we happen to know personally who may need to return to the fullness of spiritual life.

The Church is made up of sinners, but is herself without sin. The Church should not be judged on the basis of those who don’t live up to their Christian vocation. The Church is made of sinners, and in some cases great sinners, yet she herself is free from sin. Just as one can say of Christ that He came from above and not from below, so also does the Church have a divine origin.

The Second Vatican Council says Christ “joined her to himself as his body and endowed her with the gift of the Holy Spirit for the glory of God. … This holiness of the Church is constantly shown forth in the fruits of grace which the Spirit produces in the faithful. It is expressed in many ways by the individuals who, each in his own state of life, tend to the perfection of love, thus sanctifying others” (Lumen gentium, Point 39).

The Church knows that she is not a creature of this world. She is not a cultural phenomenon, nor a political institution, nor a scientific school, but a creation of the heavenly Father by means of Jesus Christ.

“Christ has given the Church his words and works, his life and salvation. She has been entrusted with this treasure for all generations to come” (Michael Schmaus, Dogmatic Theology, Dogma 4).

Sinners belong to the Church, despite their sins. They still can return to the house of the Father, even if it is at the last moment of their lives. Our Lord still wants to spread that flame of His fire, that baptism with which He’s been baptized with. Sinners, having received Baptism, carry within themselves the hope of reconciliation which not even the most grievous of sin can erase.

The sin which the Church finds in her children does not belong to her, but belongs to her enemy. It would be a pity if we allowed people to judge the Church on the basis of what she is not.

Pope John Paul II said the Church “is a Mother through whom we are born to a new life in God. A mother should be loved. She is holy with regard to her Founder, her works, and her doctrine, but she is, nevertheless, composed of sinful men and women.

“It is our duty to make a positive contribution to the life of the Church, to help her progress during the way of faithful renewal. This is not accomplished by negative criticisms” (John Paul II, Homily, Point 3, November 7, 1982).

When people speak of the so-called defects of the Church in days gone by or in the present, they betray a mistaken understanding of the nature of this supernatural institution.

The Acts of the Apostles were told, “Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you guardians, to feed the church of the Lord which he obtained with his own blood” (Acts 20:28).

Christ has watched over the Church from its foundation, “having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle,” says St. Paul, “or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (Eph. 5:26–27). St. Paul writes to Timothy that the Church is “the household of God, the pillar and the bulwark of truth” (1 Tim. 3:15).

We can be very grateful for the Church, and very proud of our Church, and love our Church very much. Let us try to be good children of God in the Church so that we can spread the flame of Christ all the more effectively.

“If we love the Church, there will never arise in us a morbid interest in airing, as the faults of the Mother, the weaknesses of some of her children. The Church,” says St. Josemaría, “the spouse of Christ, does not have to intone any mea culpa—through my fault. But we do.

“The only true mea culpa is a personal one, not the one which attacks the Church, pointing out and exaggerating the human defects which, in this holy mother, result from the presence in her of men whose actions go far astray, but which can never destroy—nor even touch—that which we call the original and constitutive holiness of the Church” (J. Escrivá, In Love with the Church, Point 7).

The Church is the source of sanctity in the world. She continually offers to men the means for drawing close to God.

Pius XII has said, “Certainly our Holy Mother shines out spotless in her sacraments, by means of which she brings forth her children and nourishes them; in her faith, which has never suffered contamination; in her most holy laws, by which she commands all men; and in her evangelical counsels which she proposes to all men; finally, in her heavenly gifts and charisms by means of which, with inexhaustible fecundity, she brings forth armies of martyrs and virgins and confessors” (Pius XII, Mystici Corporis Christi, Point 66, June 29, 1943).

As the fountain of sanctity, the Church has produced many saints down through the centuries. First there were the martyrs who gave their lives for the faith. Later, history records the testimony of innumerable men and women who have spent their lives for the love of God to help others in need.

Has there ever been a human want for which the Church has not shown a maternal solicitude? Countless parents have led heroic lives of silent sacrifice while faithfully fulfilling the demands of their vocation.

Similarly, there are those many men and women who strive to achieve holiness in the middle of the world by living apostolic celibacy.

In short, the Church is holy because, the Second Vatican Council says, “all in the Church, whether they belong to the hierarchy or are cared for by it, are called to holiness” (Lumen gentium, Point 39).

By virtue of the holiness of her Founder, the Church, the Bride of Christ, is forever young and beautiful, “without spot or…blemish (Eph. 5:27). She is always worthy of divine favor. The holiness of the Church is an inherent characteristic, part of her nature, which doesn’t depend upon the number of Christians nor upon the depth of their commitment to her.

The Church is holy due to the constant action of the Holy Spirit and not because of the behavior of her members. St. Josemaría said, “I would also like you to consider that even if human failings were to outnumber acts of valor, the clear, undeniable mystical reality of the Church, though unperceived by the senses, would still remain. The Church would still be the Body of Christ, Our Lord himself, the action of the Holy Spirit, and the loving presence of the Father” (J, Escrivá, In Love with the Church, Point 22).

As devout members of the People of God, we can ask Our Lord to increase our desire for personal holiness so that we might be truly sons and daughters of the Church. We ask Him for that grace, that we might truly want to spread the fire, the fire of the Holy Spirit that we’ve been called to spread.

“For this sublime mission, aimed at the flowering of a new age of evangelization all over the world, evangelizers with a special preparation are required today.

“There is a need for heralds of the Gospel who are experts in humanity, who have a profound knowledge of the heart of present-day man, participating in his joys and hopes, anguish and sadness, and who are at the same time contemplatives in love with God. For this we need new saints. The great evangelizers down through history have all been saints,” said John Paul II (John Paul II, Address, October 11, 1985).

We need to implore Our Lord to increase the Church’s spirit of holiness and send us new saints to evangelize today’s world. Lord, may we be always very aware of your words: “I have come to cast fire on the earth, to spread fire, and what would I but that it be enkindled” (Luke 12:49).

I thank you, my God, for the good resolutions, affections, and inspirations that you have communicated to me during this meditation. I ask your help to put them into practice. My Immaculate Mother, Saint Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.