Friday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
“For greater things you were born.” (Ven. Mother Luisita)
Friday, October 8th Lk. 11:15-26 “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”
The question we should be asking ourselves is, “How can I make sure that I am “with Christ” and not against Him??? Fr. Ed gives us the answer boldly and fully in the following meditation.
KEEP THE FIRE OF GOD’S LOVE BURNING IN YOU! by Fr. Ed Broom, OMV
Jesus said: “I have come to cast fire on the earth; I am not at peace until that fire is blazing.” (Lk 12:49) Right now, that fire should be burning in your heart. That is the fire of the Holy Spirit. A bonfire to be kept ablaze must be fed constantly. Wood, leaves, brush, old papers must be constantly cast into the fire. If not, the fire extinguishes and soon there is only a pile of ashes.
As a result of the social and spiritual milieu in which we live, how easy it is for the fire of the Holy Spirit, the Fire of Divine Love to wane, decline, diminish and extinguish. Too many Catholics today are like smoldering wicks, smoldering embers that have lost their fire, lost their zeal, lost their enthusiasm, lost their joy for living. As T.S. Elliot penned poetically: “They will go out not with a bang, but with a whimper!”
A SERIOUS WARNING. The last Book of the Bible, the Book of Revelation/Apocalypse warns us: “You have lost your first love.” (Rev 2:4) And, “You are neither hot nor cold, I wish you were, but you are lukewarm; so I will vomit you out of my mouth.” (Rev 3:16) Startling or even shocking as these words sound, they come from the Holy Spirit who is the Author of all of Sacred Scripture. May God save us from mediocrity!
A FERVENT PRAYER. Let us make a heartfelt and fervent prayer from the depths of our heart that the fire of God’s love will never extinguish in our soul. However, if it has, let us beg the Holy Spirit to rekindle that fire. Then let us pray for the grace to ignite many fires—the fire of God’s love—wherever we go, with whomever we meet, in whatever circumstances God places us!
JUMP-STARTS TO SET OUR HEARTS ABLAZE. This being the case, let us use all the tools, all the means that God has placed in our path to jump-start the flame of God’s love in our heart. May we follow in the footsteps of the Master, Jesus, making His words our own: “I have come to cast fire on the earth, and I am not at peace until that fire be enkindled.” (Lk 12:49)
THE BIG TEN JUMP-STARTERS!
1. RE-IGNITE THE FLAME. Go to Confession! If we have lost God’s grace through Mortal sin, then God’s fire has been extinguished in us. Have no discouragement on your part; rather trust in God! Like the Prodigal Son (Lk 15:11-32) get up and return to the loving embrace of the Father through a good Sacramental Confession. The loving arms of the Father are wide-open to receive you. He patiently awaits your return!
2. CONSECRATION TO MARY AND THE SCAPULAR. At the crack of dawn upon awakening every morning, consecrate your whole being, your day, and all your activities to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and then kiss your Scapular. Paintings depict the Immaculate Heart of Mary with fire flowing out from her heart—the fire of love, the fire of the Holy Spirit – for you and your eternal salvation!
3. SHORT ASPIRATIONS IN THE DAY. During the course of the day lift up your heart in short prayers, like arrows piercing the heavens, such as: “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I love you; save souls” Whenever a short, fiery dart occurs to you, shoot it up to heaven as an act of love. Keep the fire aflame!
4. RECOGNIZE YOUR DIGNITY. Through Baptism our souls were radically transformed: we became Temples of the Holy Spirit! Among the many beautiful, mystical, and poetic titles for the Holy Spirit in the Sequence of the Holy Spirit is that of “Sweet Guest of the soul”. As Pope Saint Leo the Great reminds us in his Christmas homily: “Christians, recognize your dignity!” With a constant awareness of your dignity and destiny—“I am a child of God, a Temple of Holy Spirit, and Heaven is my destiny”—the fire leaps up unceasingly!
5. HEAVEN: RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER. The virtue of Hope enflames the interior of your soul. With your feet on the earth and your spiritual eyes lifted on high towards Heaven that awaits you, God’s fiery flames will ignite your soul. Life is short, like the flower of the field that rises in the morning and withers and dies as the sun hides its face. (Ps 103:15-16) Life has its contradictions. But if you carry your cross patiently and with love, Heaven awaits you!
6. EXTINGUISH THE FIRE OF GOD’S JUSTICE BY THE FIRE OF YOUR LOVE—PURGATORY! Frequent prayers, sacrifices and alms-giving—acts of love offered for the souls in Purgatory, can mitigate the Fire of God’s Justice that purifies the souls in Purgatory. That is to say, the Fire of your Charity can result in these souls arriving sooner at their final destiny—Heaven. In turn, their prayers from heaven will serve to ignite and enflame God’s fiery love within you!
7. FIERY LOVE FOR GOD AND MY NEIGHBOR. The fire of love that burns in your heart towards God whom you do not see, must rush forth impetuously towards your neighbor whom you do see, and who is created in the image and likeness of God! “I was hungry, thirsty, naked, a foreigner, sick and in prison, and you tended to my needs!” (Mt 25:31-46) Every time you serve Jesus in others in either the Corporal or Spiritual Works of Mercy, the fire of God’s love ignites and burns brightly in you. Read the lives of the saints as your model!
8. THE HOLY HOUR: THE HOUR OF POWER, THE HOUR OF FIRE! If you come inside out of an icy winter night and sit before the hearth where a fire is blazing, you will thaw out. The flames shooting from the brick hearth will even dry your wet, soggy winter clothes. In a similar fashion, it is easy for worldliness and mundane values to permeate our inner being with a wet, soggy indifference! It is precisely the Holy Hour, the Hour of Power, the Hour of Fire that sets our minds, our hearts, and our wills aflame! In the Tabernacle lives the Lord of Lords and King of Kings in all of His Majesty, fire, and power! Pope Saint John Paul II stated that the Tabernacle is the living heartbeat of the Church. May His fiery Heart set our hearts on fire through faithfulness to our daily Holy Hour!
9. SPIRITUAL READING/LECTIO DIVINA. For us to cast fiery darts into the minds and hearts of others, it is necessary for us to have firm convictions in our mind that translate into actions. All too many are sluggish, lethargic, anemic, and half asleep in their spiritual life. They lack the fire of motivation that is sparked and ignited by solid spiritual reading. Consult your spiritual director or regular confessor on your choice of reading. May the choice help you to put on the mind of Christ, in the words of the fiery Apostle Saint Paul. Then you will be able to say: “I have the mind of Christ.” (1 Cor 2:16)
10. HOLY COMMUNION AND FIRE. Whenever possible, receive Holy Communion. In a very real sense Holy Communion results in a Spiritual Heart Transplant. You truly receive the Total Christ—Jesus’ Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. This means that you receive the Sacred Heart of Jesus! If you contemplate any image of the most Sacred Heart of Jesus, you will see that blazing fire rushes forth from His Heart! He suffers so much, as He said to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque: “Behold the Heart that loves so much and receives only coldness, indifference, and ingratitude.” If your reception of Holy Communion is indeed fervent, then Jesus’ Heart takes your heart and floods it with the fire of His Divine Love so that you can share it with the whole world!!!
Thanksgiving Prayer after Holy Communion:
Soul of Christ, sanctify me.
Body of Christ, save me.
Blood of Christ, inebriate me.
Water from the side of Christ, wash me.
Passion of Christ, strengthen me.
O Good Jesus, hear me.
Within your wounds hide me.
Suffer me not to be separated from Thee.
From the malignant enemy, defend me.
At the hour of death, call me,
bid me come to Thee,
that with Thy saints I may praise Thee
For ever and ever. Amen.
