I have come to set the earth on fire,
and how I wish it were already blazing!
This is the fire that was predicted by John the Baptist when he prophesied of Jesus that he "will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire" (see Luke 3:16). Jesus, the one who would not be content with that which was merely lukewarm (see Revelation 3:16) would himself be the one to bring the fire he desired. As a consequence the hearts of the disciples on the road to Emmaus would burn within them (see Luke 24:32). Timothy would be advised be Paul to fan into flames the gift he had been given (see Second Timothy 1:6). This fire was cast in a particularly manifest and powerful way at Pentecost when the Spirit descended like tongues of fire (see Acts 2:3).
There is a baptism with which I must be baptized,
and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!
In order for us to receive the gift of the fire of the Holy Spirit Jesus himself first had to unlock that gift by his death and resurrection, "for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified" (see John 7:39). He had first to be immersed in the baptism of his own suffering and death, to pour out the living water of the Spirit for us, so that we could be baptized precisely by that living water, uniting us with his own death and resurrection, qualifying us to receive the inheritance of the Spirit.
Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth?
No, I tell you, but rather division.
A challenging thing about the fire of the Spirit is that it does not tolerate a false peace which is actually only the status quo. It makes us more concerned for the holiness of God than simply the avoidance of conflict. It teaches us that even the greatest of natural goods cannot be preferred to God himself. But the Spirit does this by making us recognize experientially the hierarchy of goods. In other words, he makes us to understand that trying to enjoy even the blessings of family without reference to God subverts those blessings and empties them of their value. Family apart from God cannot have eternal significance. But family ordered toward God as its source and destiny can participate in the fire of the Spirit and know a peace and joy of supernatural origin.
I kneel before the Father,
from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named
The fire of the Spirit makes us zealous for God and the things of God. As a corollary it motivates us to fight against all injustice, especially against the lowest and the least of society, rather than accepting a "peace" that would ignore and trample them. It is not content to love them merely unto better social status, but wants for them exactly what Paul wanted for the Ephesians:
that he may grant you in accord with the riches of his glory
to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner self,
and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith;
that you, rooted and grounded in love,
may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones
what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge,
so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Are our hearts in fact burning within us? Or have the flames receded to embers? Has our love cooled and become lukewarm? Jesus came to bring fire on the earth not to consume or destroy, but to ignite, to make fully alive. It is dangerous, in a sense, but we see in all the biblical figures who experience that fire how good it is. In it they find their ultimate purpose and the motivation with which to pursue it. The fire is good and we need not fear it! But if we want it, and want to keep it, we must fan it into flames. The Spirit is not something we can stir up by our emotions, however. Making our fire grow is something that Jesus himself must do within, something that he in fact wants to do more than we even want it for ourselves.
Now to him who is able to accomplish far more than all we ask or imagine,
by the power at work within us,
to him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus
to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
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