I Have Come to Set the World on Fire, and How I Wish it Were Already Blazing!
August 19, 2007

Readings for the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Reading 1: Jer. 38:4–6, 8–10

Responsorial Psalm: Ps. 40:2, 3, 4, 18

Reading 2: Heb. 12:1–4

Gospel: Lk. 12:49–53

Link to Readings

By Father Robert Pecotte

O Lord, You, who are uncreated Truth from which all truth springs, have said, “Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.” Who can fathom the depths of Thy Wisdom, the depths of Thy Love, or even still the Truth of Peace? We, who are helpless babes in Thy hand, are more lost and confused than ever by an interior yearning for peace, and yet there is no peace. What is peace, my Jesus, and how is the division that you have established in Thy own Blood the beginning of true peace?

We must be little before Him who is Might itself if we would begin to believe Him, to believe in Him, and to Love Him. If we would begin to understand the words of Our Lord Who is The Word, we must be humble and admit our ignorance of and inability to perceive the Divine Wisdom. Let us humble ourselves before God and admit that we need Him, that we do not love Him as we ought. That we who are sinners do not trust Him to provide all that we need . . . which is nothing other than Himself. We who profess unity amongst ourselves and our communities do not even have the unity of our own self to offer God! We are internally divided by our own sins and do not perceive, think, love, or will in accord with Our Lord.

Setting Ourselves Against Evil

In today’s first reading, Jeremiah is at the bottom of the cistern, and he is sinking in the mud. Who among us would go and ask the King to free him? Who would set himself against the princes and risk everything to assist a prophet who prophecies doom for the nation? Who today will set himself against evil for the sake of good, even when the majority desires the evil over the good and believes that the evil is good and the good is evil?

Who among us will keep their eyes fixed on Jesus and embrace the cross of suffering so as to leave behind the burden of sin and the base desires of the flesh in order to join the Lord crucified in glory? Who will bear patiently one insult for Jesus’ sake—let alone the flood of opposition that faces the holy ones of God? Who of us hates sin more than he loves his own flesh, so as to be willing to shed his own blood rather than willfully commit even the most venial of sins?

If Jerusalem was divided over the truth of the prophet Jeremiah, then how much more is the world divided over the One who is Uncreated Truth incarnate? If the human princes made a pact with the demonic princes to overthrow Jeremiah, and King Zedekiah gave way to their counsel, then how much more is Satan conspiring to murder the Church and her Holy Ones? How much more are the human princes of this world in accord with the Prince of this world?

Darkness cannot know the light nor have converse with it, so the sons of darkness are opposed to the sons of light. Where there is sin, there is no peace—and yet when sin increases, grace increases more! The Word of the Lord divides, it is a two-edged sword that severs all that is untrue from all that is true, all that is impure from all that is pure. There can be no admixture of Evil with Good. Compromising the Universal Truth of God does not bring peace; it brings war and death.

Blazing with the Love of Christ

Who among us will allow himself to be kindled by the blood of the Lamb? Who among us will bring the blaze of Love that pours forth from the Heart of the Crucified into the darkest recesses of his own heart?

Hear the Sacred Heart of Jesus speak: “There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!”

O Lord! I would love to the point of anguishing when I do not suffer persecutions, rejections, torments, beatings, mockery, and even a most cruel and bloody death for Love of Thee! Burn up the dross in my heart that keeps me from Loving Thee as Thou hast loved me! Thou who anguished over not yet suffering enough for me! For me, who has betrayed Thee, my God, countless times! Who can fathom this Love of God for man? And yet did You, O Lord, not say: “It is accomplished”?

Indeed it is. The fire that was lighted on Mount Calvary with The Cross for fuel and Thy All-Holy Blood for spark is still burning, though it is dangerously dim. The world is divided, rich and poor, powerful and weak, and even Thy Church is divided: Bishop against Pope, Priest against Bishop, and People against Priest. Maranatha, Come Lord Jesus! All are crying peace, and there is no peace! Families, towns, cities, and nations lie in ruin, and yet Thy Church still stands. How long, O Lord? Please come and sever, once and for all, the Dark from the Light.

Lord, set Thy Church afire with true faith for fuel and true blood for spark. Burn down this long and bitter night. Amen.

Fr. Robert Pecotte is a priest of the Diocese of Fargo, North Dakota.

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