Already Blazing

The Gospel we heard at mass over the weekend may appear to be challenging at the surface level.  But Jesus is just telling us about the reality of living our faith and following Him.  He wants us to be on fire with love for Him and, if we are, this will come with a cost.  Our faith will cause division and conflict, possibly even among people close to us.

In this culture, if our faith has never offended or upset anyone, are we truly living it out?  While our goal as Catholics and Christians is not to offend and upset others by our faith, we know that the Church’s teachings are in direct opposition to the world around us, so it is highly likely that when we live our lives in accordance with the Church, people will be offended and upset as a result.

I am grateful that the family members closest to me, my siblings, all are Catholic and practice their faith.  It is a huge blessing to share the faith we were given and to continue to grow in it.  When it comes to some extended family members, such as aunts, uncles, cousins, that is not the case.  Whatever your situation is, you probably have family members, whether immediate or extended, who don’t practice the faith, have left the church, or who think your faith is weird and outdated.  Wherever we find ourselves, we must not let people around us weaken or diminish our faith.

Jesus knows that our faith will cause division, whether that is among family, friends, or other people we know.  Our love for Jesus and desire to follow Him must be greater than our fear about what others think and our desire to fit in.  In the Gospel passage from this past weekend, Jesus says “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing” (Luke 12:49)!  Are our hearts on fire?  Are our lives already blazing?  Do we allow Jesus to work in our lives and increase our faith?

Our greatest desire should be to have hearts that are on fire for Jesus and a desire to live our faith boldly.  Jesus wants to use us to help spread the fire of His love.  And we can only do this if we are willing to face division, conflict, and discomfort.  My prayer for each of us today is that we would let His fire overtake us so that we can help spread it to the people around us.