When was the last time you tried to start a fire? There are many factors that go into a successful fire start. The material you use to start the fire must be flammable, dry and of the right size. A fire needs a protected space to catch and grow. Oxygen is needed, but in balanced amounts. A small fire needs to be watched closely to turn into a strong flame that gives off heat and light. If you try to start a fire on a humid, foggy day, you will find that fire is sensitive to the quality of the air around it. This is something I learned last year.
In my enthusiasm to provide my girls with campfire cooked meals, I didn’t give much thought to a rain contingency plan. And sure enough, it rained. In fact, it was mostly a drizzle and dampness, no real raindrops. It was just bearable enough to pursue my goal of cooking over a campfire. Thankfully, it wasn’t impossible, but it was really tough.
On Thursday, I spent most of the day trying to feed my little fire so it would grow big and strong. It was slow to cooperate, chopping the firewood into small pieces before trying to eat it (never mind that I didn’t have an axe). Still, the humidity in the air that day was so bad that I had to essentially build a shelter over the little fire before it could focus on consuming fuel. This took hours, but with patience and persistence (and a few near-choking moments on smoke), I finally got a real fire going and was able to cook dinner on it. That was Thursday.
Friday morning the weather didn’t look too good. But before we rolled up our sleeves to put out the breakfast fire, we took our daughters to Mass for the Feast of the Sacred Heart. As we were reading the Antiphon of the First Vespers in preparation for the Holy Sacrifice, I was surprised by these words of the Magnificat: “I have come to cast fire on the earth. What do I want to do but to kindle a fire.” It seemed to me as if the Lord was speaking directly to me. Naturally, after the ordeal of kindling the fire the day before, I was perfectly ready to take this message to heart. Two questions rose to the forefront: what is this fire the Lord was referring to? And how do we make it kindle?
Regarding the first question, the use of the above antiphon on the Feast of the Sacred Heart made it seem to me that the Lord was speaking of the flame of love. When the theological virtue of love is infused into the human heart at Baptism, it is raised to a whole new order of love, capable of loving God (and the neighbor for God’s sake) with God’s own love. And it makes perfect sense that the Lord called this flame of love: “I came to cast fire on the earth”. His sanctifying love gives light and heat, it consumes everything and spreads like a fire. The Lord wants that flame of love to burn in us. It is not something to be merely objectively studied or logically recognized. We are made to feel it, to be moved by it. Dom Guéranger says: “The Christian heart is not made to be cold and indifferent. It must be loving and devoted. Otherwise it will never reach the perfection that God, who is love, has mercifully created” (Liturgical Year, vol. 9, p. 356).
The second question was actually a series of questions related to the bonfire adventure of the previous day: How does beloved Jesus want me to light the fire of His love? What fuels this precious fire of charity? What does this fire need to be protected from and by? Is there any “moisture” that would hinder this flame from growing?
I spent the rest of Friday meditating on these things while the material fire stoked before me: how knowledge inspires love, how in order to love God more, we need to know Him better (at this point I could clearly hear Deborah Kerr singing in my head). To know you, to know all about you…). Indeed, I had many ideas about how to learn more about God, how to orient myself to his gift of faith: reading the lives of the saints, studying at nature schools, observing God in the Gospels and the mysteries of the Rosary, to name just a few. I also saw that the love of the temporal can draw our hearts away from the eternal. Worldly treasures, honors, comforts, and conveniences become so much a mist that they threaten to extinguish the fire of charity. But it is not the world that is the problem, but the love of the world when that love is out of order. Our affections and joys can and must be directed. It is not enough to deprive ourselves of them when we longingly pursue worldly pleasures. We must strive with energy and determination to kindle our desire for the eternal, infinitely greater good.
At the same time, it is important to remember that only God actually has the wisdom and power to set our hearts on fire. Light the fire of your love in us. Jesus invites us to get involved in this task just as a mother might “help” her toddler make dinner.
All of these are simply my There is much to consider, but there is much more to be gained from your own meditation on this subject. youSpecifically, if your local burning regulations allow it, I strongly encourage you to take a moment to make a fire, pray for the Lord to come with you, and meditate on His Word. I am come to cast fire on the earth, and what will I do but make it burn. Meditations can be as planned or spontaneous as you like. Some find it helpful to use all the questions who, what, where, when, why and how to start a conversation with the Lord, others don’t. The real point is to ask our beloved Jesus to give us a deeper appreciation and understanding of His Divine Love and to show us the connection between nourishing the natural flame and cultivating supernatural charity. What better way to please and heal His Sacred Heart, wounded by cold? What better way to prepare ourselves to receive the rich treasures of His tender heart that He so dearly wants to give us?
Heart of Jesus, fervent furnace of charity, have mercy on us.
Photo by Fir0002 via Wikimedia Commons.
