Jesus said in the Gospel today, “I have come to bring fire to the earth and how I wish it were blazing already.” Jesus has come to bring the kingdom of God to earth and how he wishes the kingdom of God were already established everywhere on earth. The fire Jesus came to bring is the fire of love, the fire of hope. Bringing fire to the earth, doing anything good, is going to run into the opposition of evil. Jesus said, “There is a baptism I must still receive, and how great is my distress until it is over.” Baptism means going completely under the water. Spiritually, when one goes under water to be baptized, one dies to sin, to onself and to the world, but when one rises out of the water, one rises to live a new life of love, freedom from sin and unity with God.
Jesus described the opposition he received as a baptism which would ultimately end in his death. “There is a baptism I must still receive, and how great is my distress until it is over.” The devil exists so every attempt at good is attacked in one way or another. Our Lord’s baptism of blood occurred on the Cross, when sin would be nailed to the Cross, but when He would rise from the tomb, He would bring about forgiveness for sinners, freedom to love and unity of faith.
The Gospel today says that attempts to do good will automatically cause division: Jesus said a household of five would be divided, three against two and two against three. The five in the house are the father, mother, son, daughter, and daughter-in-law.
It is interesting to note that the Gospel does not state that unity is the highest goal. Bringing fire to the earth is the highest goal. Standing up for what is right, working for justice and truth are higher aims than unity, and working for those aims will sometimes cause division. Jesus came to bring fire to the earth, the kingdom of God. As a result of it he would receive a baptism of distress, he would be crucified, and there would be division.
There are many Christians who had fire of God’s love and underwent a baptism of suffering as a result, which helped them spread that fire. Here are some examples.
In Hong Kong, several prominent Catholics have faced imprisonment for their activism and advocacy for democracy and freedom of speech, particularly in the context of the National Security law. Jimmy Lai, a media mogul and pro-democracy activist, has been imprisoned for several years and faces potential life imprisonment.
Additionally, Cardinal Joseph Zen, 93 year old, retired bishop and democracy advocate, was convicted for failing to register a fund that helped arrested protesters. These men desire that bring God’s love in the lives of people by defending freedom of speech.
Joan Bell, a 76-year-old Catholic and pro-life activist who was sentenced to two years and three months in prison, for a rescue attempt at an abortion clinic in Washington, DC.
The fire of God’s love was great within her, she was willing to show love to help pregnant mothers change their minds before getting an abortion. Her love for children caused her to do everything she could to help the unborn to have the opportunity to live their life.
In California, when Cathy Miller began her baking business she dedicated it to God and wanted to use her created gifts for His glory. As her business grew, she wanted to follow a moral standard based upon her faith. She refused to bake cakes for persons who wanted marijuana brownies and cookies, same-sex marriage cakes, or bachelorette party treats, or gory Halloween cakes. She said as a Christian should could violate her conscience. For refusing to bake a same-sex marriage cake, her heart was filled with the fire of love to stand as a witness to the beauty and truth of marriage between a man and woman and wanted to help a same-sex couple to come to know that true love of God is found in keeping God’s commandments, as Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” As a result of standing up for her Christian faith, she was terrorized by government leaders and taken to court many times over the years. However, the Supreme Court in 2018 said a person could refuse services for exorcising free religion.
Guy Gruters was a Catholic Vietnam prisoner of war for five years. During his time in the prison camp, he became very angry and unforgiving towards the communist soldiers who tortured him and the other prisoners. But, the fire of God’s love caused a prison camp to be ignited to forgive their tortures and boldly profess their faith and American identity. He explained how on Sundays, the prisoners would pray one Our Father, the 23rd Psalm and the Pledge of Alliance when the camp bell would go off. A few years later, an American soldiers decided to gather 40 to 50 Americans together and would have a two hour Sunday service. They would sing the Star Spangled Banner and Amazing Grace, and soldiers who knew Bible stories would tell a scripture story. One of soldiers would preach to the group. One of the Communist leaders told them, “You know the rules, no God, no church, you don’t worship God, only silence, we torture and kill for those rules.” Because they kept singing, Communist soldiers took several American prisoners and torture them, but the remaining soldiers would continue singing. They would come and take more soldiers and torture them, but the group kept singing until all the soldiers were tortured, and when all returned, they continued singing because they valued their faith and their country. While in prison, Mr. Guters said when he began to daily pray the Rosary, it was then he was able to forgive those who tortured him. The fire of God’s love burned away his unforgiveness and he said what was once hell in the camp became heaven, because he was given the freedom to love.
When Jesus said, “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!”, He was not refering to a physical fire, but a spiritual fire that flows from the Holy Spirit, that purifies from sin, turns one away from worldly ways, and spreads love and virtue.
The fire of God’s love causes division because it separates false unity based upon the worldly views and sin, from true unity based upon unity of faith, freedom and true love that flows from the Heart of God.
Today, will you spread the fire of God’s love at home, at work, with family, friends, neighbors, non-Catholics, confused Catholics and even enemies? Ask the Virgin Mary, to help you love as She loved Jesus and truly love our neighbor as our self, seeking first and foremost the greatest good of desiring everyone obtain heaven, which at times means pointing out their failures so they too can spread the fire of God’s love.
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