Burn, Baby. BURN!

Fire is the most powerful when it spreads.

Think about it.

     One match can light up a forest. One match can light a candle, and that candle another...and another...and another. One match can light up a room. One flame can spread and heat an entire house. 

Fire is needed for trains, plane engines, and rockets. Fire is necessary.

     Even more so, fire is essential in the Church. We need to spread the fire of the Holy Spirit to everyone and everywhere. We, as members of the Body of Christ, are called to evangelize. We are fundamentally wrong if we think that evangelization is supposed to be left to priests and religious (or even super-Catholics). It's our job to show Christ through actions and when necessary to use words. Our mission is to show Jesus to others. We aren't called to first preach facts about Him, but to share His love. When we want someone to like a certain food, we ask them to taste it. That way, they can experience it for themselves. To evangelize Christ is to help others taste His goodness. Evangelization is letting the fire spread. 

     The Holy Spirit is the breath of God. St. Paul says no one can say Jesus is Lord without the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3). St. Anthony of Padua once said, "Let us bring Pentecost to fulfillment." Jesus Himself tells us He has come to set the world on fire, saying He wishes it were already ablaze (Luke 12:49). 

Fire is essential. 

     "How I wish it was already ablaze." What a sad, but beautiful sentence... It should be normal for us to see people on fire for their faith and converting to the faith. However, too often we see people filling in the church pews solely on Sunday. Even then, they seem to be missing something. 

We are missing fire. 

     Before Jesus ascended into heaven, he promised to send a Comforter (spoiler alert: it's the Holy Spirit). The apostles were in a room, locked away in fear. We are in quarantine, locked away in fear. The apostles felt the Holy Spirit come down and rest upon their heads, fill their minds, and inebriate their souls. During these times, let us be open to the Holy Spirit's desires. Let us be true disciples and hunger to learn about Jesus Christ. Let us be intentional in our search for Him, as He is intentional in His pursuit of us. 

     Christian lives are centered on having a personal relationship with the Lord. So why do we see so many people leaving churches? It is because of the lack of evangelization. We have let the fire dwindle into almost nothing. We believe in God, the Father, the Almighty, but do we preach Him? 

     Belief is not enough. Even Satan believes in God, though he trembles. We must form the habit of evangelization. We must be on fire for God. Habits of virtue are stable. Virtuous habits shape, change, and make us who we are. They are fundamental. A good habit of virtue requires mindfulness.Virtues dispose us to do particular things. Virtue is that which makes a person good. We are not set in stone so we are capable of changing for better or worse. Virtue makes us reliable. We are capable because the habit has changed who we are. Regardless of when we need to act, we're able to do so.

     People with virtues are free in the truest sense of the word; they are not enslaved to their passions. It's not enough to simply do the good... you have to do it for the right reason. Yet again, doing it for the right reason will not happen if we don't form the right habits. Virtues are built by repetition so we may exercise them effortlessly. 

     Virtue spreads from one area to another; fire will too, if we allow it... If God gives you a match, then your mission is to light that match and if someone blows it out light it again... For no one is held to the impossible. 

So let us burn.

(thank you Fr. Rossi for the inspiration)

*OMADG*