Christ has come into the world to set the world on fire. This imagery makes me think of the transformation that must take place inside of our life when we encounter Christ. To come into this divine encounter we must realize that our lives must blaze brightly now as we prepare for an hour we do not expect. Inside of the waters of baptism we first came to encounter Christ. In baptism we did not receive membership into a club nor did we only do so due to cultural obligation. In baptism we encountered Christ and therefore our lives should already be set forth blazing. For those of us who have received the sacrament of Confirmation we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit and in return have become "Soldiers for Christ" where we are obligated to spread and defend the faith by our words and deeds. In this manner we can truly begin to set the world on fire as the Holy Spirit has done when the fire of the Spirit descended upon the world burning away our carnal desires and leaving spiritual love behind.
In our never ending quest to set the world on fire we must model ourselves after the great "cloud of witnesses" that currently surrounds us. When Saint Paul spoke of this "cloud of witnesses" he was not speaking of people standing nearby, but is referring to all the saints in Heaven who have offered their life as a witness to the faith. In their unending witness they surround us because through their words and deeds they always gave glory to God. Their very lives were set on fire to the point where their carnal desires were burned away and total love for God was left in their place. The saints of Heaven are always present giving us this example desiring to assist us in setting our own lives on fire for God that we may inherit the rewards of eternal life. In our joining of voices for the "Holy Holy" at this Mass we join not only with those who surround us, but with each angel and saint of Heaven who comes to our aid inside of this life that we may be drawn to Heaven.
In order to allow our lives to be set on fire we must begin to rid ourselves of every burden and sin. This burden that we carry is all of our past sins that continue to bend our soul downwards making it easier for us to fall into sin. This sin that we carry is all of the carnal desires that are present within in the world that direct our lives towards disorder allowing the flame of faith to be buffed out within our lives. Striving after the life of the saints we know that it is possible to move past the burden of our past sins and to find conversion and to no-longer fall into the sin that we find within the world. Each day we must place our glance upon Christ allowing ourselves to be reoriented towards truth. We must run inside of the race of faith every single day without looking back upon our burden and sin. In looking back we lose the sight of Christ and return to our old selves in the process. We cannot accept this mediocracy inside of our lives because our baptism has directed towards something greater.
When the Spirit descended upon the world our hearts were ordered towards the truth of our Heavenly Father. Our house has therefore become divided because we should no-longer be enslaved by the Father of the Lies. We must banish the voice of Satan from our lives because through baptism we have been set apart. In this banishment of falsehoods we must trust in Christ who we have set our gaze upon. The Church was instituted by Christ in order to be the herald of the truth and to help all believers to constantly chase after God. When we chase after the truths of the Church our houses will indeed become divided because we will be going against all disordered carnal desires. We will be going against the burden and sin that keeps us moving away from Christ. Our very lives will be set aflame through the reality that we have decided to follow Christ without the excuse of desiring to turn back towards our former way of life.
Anytime when we believe that we are running the race that lies before us we cannot place our eyes upon ourselves or upon the world. In doing this we will lose the sight of Christ, will turn against the countless examples of the saints, and allow Satan to infiltrate our lives. To attend Mass only when we feel like it, to lie or cheat in order to get ahead inside of this world, to pervert the sacrament of marriage to meet our own expectation instead of that of Christ, to allow anger and hate against a neighbor to control our lives, believing that we in our limited understanding know more then wisdom of the Church, to avoid Christ's invitation to return to His mercy in Confession, and through a countless amount of other examples we place our eyes upon ourselves instead of Christ. Instead of being comfortable with this way of life we are each invited to something much greater. This day may we allow our site to be placed entirely upon Christ. With our eyes placed here it is possible for our lives to be set on fire for the faith. The more we abandon sin and trust in conversion the more this flame will spread into the world. May we not grow weary and lose heart, but abandon ourselves entirely to Christ instead of the excuse of sin. We are all called to one day join the saints in Heaven and we should accept this goal into our lives now instead of later. May we be transformed this day in the presence of Christ and in return, allow the world to be set on fire through our faith.
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