Set the world on Fire

"I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!"

What a beautiful and tremendous expression! What is that fire God wants to burn all the earth and consume all?

Is it the fire of the apostles who wanted to burn that town of Samaria because they did not receive Jesus?

No, this is not the fire. The fire that Jesus brings us is the love of God; it is the good news: we have a God—a God who is consumed with love for us, for you, since eternity: "I have loved you with an everlasting love," says the Lord.

To express that, God uses the word fire. This love of God finds its highest expression in the Son of God: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son” (John 3:16).

The love of God is the fire that Jesus wants to use to kindle the earth; that is the good news.

For Buddhists, all in this world is suffering; for Muslims, we are slaves of God; for non-believers, there is no sense. But for Christians, this is our secret: there is a God, and He is not far—He is a God who burns with love for us. To rescue us and make us love Him, He sent His Son.

Jesus wants us to know that God loves us, and through His suffering, He kindles our hearts.

And you may ask, how can I kindle my smoldering heart, my extinguishing love?

First, through prayer—love gives us the grace to love.

Then with meditation: “My heart grew hot within me; as I mused, the fire burned” (Psalm 39:3).

But moreover, through meditation on the passion of the Lord, reflecting on the sufferings of a God who came down for you and spared no suffering to show how deep His love is for you.

When your heart is set on fire, you will bring that fire to your family and your friends.

We read for the Saint of the Day:

Driven by the fire of the Holy Spirit, the holy apostles traveled throughout the earth. Inflamed with the same fire, apostolic missionaries have reached, are now reaching, and will continue to reach the ends of the earth, from one pole to the other, in order to proclaim the word of God. They can rightfully apply to themselves those words of the Apostle Paul:

“The love of Christ compels us” (2 Corinthians 5:14). For myself, I say this to you: the person who burns with the fire of divine love is a son of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and wherever he goes, he enkindles that flame; he works with all his strength to inflame all people with the fire of God's love. Nothing deters him: he rejoices in poverty; he labors strenuously; he welcomes hardships; he laughs off false accusations; he rejoices in anguish. He thinks only of how he might follow Jesus Christ and imitate Him through his prayers, his labors, his sufferings, and by caring always and only for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.