It is not possible without fire<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
In a clearly prophetic style, Jesus summarizes his whole life in a few unusual words:\u00a0 \u201cI have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!\u201d<\/b>\u00a0 What is Jesus talking about?\u00a0 The enigmatic quality of his language leads exegetes to look for the answer in different directions.\u00a0 In any case, the image of \u201cfire\u201d invites us to go near his mystery in a more ardent and passionate way.<\/p>\n
The fire that is burning within him is the passion for God and the compassion for those who suffer.<\/b>\u00a0 This unfathomable love that animates his entire life cannot be unveiled ever.\u00a0 His mystery will never remain enclosed in either dogmatic formulas or in learned \u00a0individuals\u2019 books.\u00a0 No one will write a definitive book about him.\u00a0 \u00a0Jesus draws and burns, disturbs and purifies. \u00a0No one can follow him with a burnout heart or a boring piety.<\/i><\/p>\n
His words make hearts burn.\u00a0 He offers himself as a friend to the most excluded persons, awakens hope in the prostitutes and trust in the most scorned sinners, fights against everything harmful to human beings. \u00a0He combats religious formalism, inhuman rigorism and narrow interpretations of the law.<\/b>\u00a0 Nothing and nobody can chain his freedom to do good. \u00a0We will never be able to follow him by living a life based on religious routine and on conventional \u201ccorrectness.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jesus ignites conflicts rather than puts them out.\u00a0 He has not come to bring false tranquility but tensions, confrontation and divisions.\u00a0 In fact, he introduces conflicts into our own hearts.\u00a0 We cannot possibly defend ourselves against his call by taking cover behind the shield of religious rites or social practices.<\/b>\u00a0 No religion will protect us from his gaze.\u00a0 No agnosticism will deliver us from his challenge.\u00a0 Jesus is calling us to live in the truth and to love without looking out for our interests.<\/p>\n
His fire was not extinguished when he\u00a0dove into the deep waters of death.\u00a0 Risen to new life, his Spirit continues to burn throughout history.\u00a0 His first followers feel it blazing in their hearts as they listen to his words while he walks alongside them.<\/b><\/p>\n
Where is it possible to feel today this fire of Jesus?\u00a0 Where can we experience the strength of his creative freedom?\u00a0 When do our hearts burn on accepting his Gospel?\u00a0 Where is it that one can live in a passionate way, following his footsteps?\u00a0 Although the Christian faith appears to be\u00a0dying out among us today, the fire brought by Jesus to the world is burning under the ashes.\u00a0 We cannot let it\u00a0be quenched.<\/b>\u00a0 Without fire in the heart, it is not possible to follow Jesus.<\/p>\n
Jos\u00e9 Antonio Pagola<\/b><\/p>\n
August 18, 2013
\n20 Ordinary Time (C)
\nLuke 12, 49-53<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"