Dominica Pentecostes - Is Your Faith on Fire?

PRESENTATION: The flame of fervour

Douay-Rheims Bible Chapter 2

3 And there appeared to them parted tongues, as it were of fire: and it sat upon every one of them.

4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost

It is not mere coincidence that the Holy Ghost appeared to the Apostles as tongues of fire, and those same Apostles, formerly fearful and in hiding, suddenly became “on fire” for the faith, going out in public, preaching the Gospel, risking their very lives, and ultimately giving their lives for Christ.

We have received that same Holy Ghost in Baptism and in Confirmation, but are we “on fire” as the Apostles were that first Pentecost Sunday, and what does it look like to be “on fire” for our faith?

A common synonym for being “on fire” is to be fervent in the faith. In his classic work, The Soul of the Apostolate, Dom Jean-Baptiste Chautard gives us an outline of what it means to be fervent in the faith:

Spiritual Direction and the Journey to God Fervor

Venial Sin: Never deliberate. By surprise, sometimes, or with imperfect advertence. Keenly regretted and serious reparation made.

Note here, no mention of mortal sin, we will get to that later, but being fervent means avoiding even deliberate venial sin. The saints tell us they would rather die than even commit venial sin.

Spiritual Direction and the Journey to God Fervor

Imperfections: Wants nothing to do with them. Watches over them, fights them with courage and diligence in order to be more pleasing to God. Still, imperfections are sometimes accepted, though regretted at once. Frequent acts of renunciation. Particular examen aims at perfection in a specific virtue.

The principal fight of the fervent soul is imperfections, not sins; the fervent soul has overcome all habitual sins. The fervent soul also makes a regular particular examen aimed at growing in virtue, not just a general examination of conscience at the end of each day.

Spiritual Direction and the Journey to God Fervor

Prayer: Vocal and mental prayer is constantly practiced and gladly prolonged. Prayer is often affective and the prayer of simplicity begins to emerge. Alternation between powerful consolations and fierce trials.

The prayer of the fervent soul is principally mental prayer, not multiplying devotions and vocal prayers but growing in interior prayer beyond just basic meditation.

Spiritual Direction and the Journey to God Fervor

Sacraments: Fervently participates in weekly and daily Mass if able. Pursues confession at least on a monthly basis. Imperfections are offered in confession for the purpose of obtaining the grace necessary to overcome them (i.e., devotional confession).

The fervent soul is not content with just attending Mass on Sunday but goes at every opportunity. In an article on the Eucharist, Catholic philosopher George Weigel quotes an evangelical Protestant, who once said to a Catholic friend: “If I really believed, like you say you do, that Christ himself is in that tabernacle, I’d be crawling up the aisle on my hands and knees.” A fervent soul would be willing to crawl over broken glass to get to Mass whenever they could.

A beautiful example I saw recently was one of the churches in the Diocese of Charlotte, North Carolina, where the local bishop is threatening to suppress the Latin Mass. On Ascension Thursday, which was not a holy day of obligation in that diocese, the church was packed full of people.

The fervant soul also goes to Confession promptly and regularly, and with few sins to confess, makes frequent devotional confessions.

Finally, while Dom Chautard does not include it in his list, I would add that the fervent soul has a zeal for souls, both living and dead. The fervent soul spreads the Gospel without fear of ridicule, just as the Apostles did on that first Pentecost. The fervent soul also sacrifices daily for the conversion of sinners and for the souls in Purgatory, as well as gaining every possible indulgence for the Holy Souls.

EXPLANATION: The Ember of Lukewarmness

If the description of the fervent soul does not describe us, that leaves us with two other possible options. Our Lord, in the Apocalypse, says:

Douay-Rheims Bible Chapter 3

15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would thou wert cold or hot.

16 But because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will begin to vomit thee out of my mouth.

If we are not “hot,” not fervent, we could be “cold,” in other words, living a worldly life, hardened in sin, but I doubt we would be here today if we were. So that leaves us one other possibility, the one which Our Lord considers worse than living in sin: being lukewarm.

What does the lukewarm soul look like? First, the lukewarm soul commits mortal sin. There has been a mistaken notion in the last few decades, that the end goal of the spiritual life is overcoming mortal sin, no, ceasing to commit mortal sin is the first step, without which progress is impossible.

As for venial sin, the lukewarm soul hardly even considers it, puts up little to no effort to avoid it and makes no attempt to uproot it from his or her life.

Regarding prayer, the lukewarm soul likely does not practice it habitually and often forgets or skips part or all of its daily prayers. It may also practice prayer regularly but only on the surface, with many vocal prayers but rarely, if ever, mental prayer.

The lukewarm soul is content to go to Mass on Sunday but finds any and every excuse not to go during the week. The lukewarm soul will prioritize worldly concerns and frivolities. They will make sure their child gets to dance class every week but cannot be bothered to attend a weekday Mass.

Finally, the lukewarm soul has no zeal for souls, fears preaching the Gospel, rarely sacrifices for others, and pays little to no attention to the Holy Souls in Purgatory.

IMPLICATION: Inflaming our fervour

If we find ourselves in a state of lukewarmness, then we should be seriously concerned. Spiritual writers tell us that a soul that remains lukewarm eventually becomes what is known as a retarded soul, one whose spiritual growth is stunted and unlikely ever to become fervent. Such souls have a harder time achieving salvation than hardened sinners and will be judged severely by Our Lord because they knew what needed to be done but failed to act.

To get out of a lukewarm state, we must take active steps. First, we must eliminate all mortal sin from our lives immediately—not eventually, but now. Second, we must start working on the elimination of deliberate venial sins, focusing our particular examination on any sin we need to eliminate.

Third, if we are not in the habit of practicing mental prayer, we need to start right away, devoting at least 15 minutes daily and eventually increasing to 30.

Fourth, we need to go to Confession regularly, confessing our lukewarmness to obtain the graces we need to fight back and become fervent in faith.

Fifth, we need to foster in ourselves a zeal for souls, proclaiming our faith, and praying and sacrificing for others.

Finally, we need to set our priorities straight when it comes to worshiping God. Just going to Mass once a week on Sunday does not cut it; we should strive to go as often as we can. We must also recognize that all our earthly concerns—that barbecue we want to attend, that judo class we want to take, that part-time high school job—are not now, nor will they ever be, more important than the worship of God.

As we receive Our Lord in Holy Communion today, let us pray for the grace to be fervent in our faith. Perhaps fortuitously, our next major feast day is Corpus Christi, the feast of the Holy Eucharist. I’ll see you there.