I have come to set the world on FIRE!

Homily – 20th Sunday Ordinary Time August 13 & 14, 2022

Jer 38:4-6, 8-10

Ps 40:2, 3, 4, 18

Heb 12:1-4

Lk 12:49-53

One of the things I love to do is be a volunteer prayer minister for the Steubenville Youth Conference in Spring Field. After loosing my voice one year, I decided to purchase a mini megaphone to use while there. It contains a built-in siren sound. So, today I had originally planned on starting out my homily by playing the siren while yelling “F-I-R-E-!” However, Bonnie said I should not do that because I might give someone a heart attack. So, you can thank Bonnie that I did not start off that way, at least this time. Anyways…

In our readings today we find a very strong and often difficult message as it relates to evangelization. But it is one that is important for us hear, especially in these often difficult and troubling times. It is still a message of hope, but not in a way we would expect to hear.

In our first reading today, we hear about the prophet Jeremiah being thrown into a cistern because the message he was proclaiming was making the princes and the soldiers uncomfortable. It was not a message they wanted to hear. Jeremiah and all the prophets of the Old Testament were often met with opposition to the message they proclaimed. People did not want to hear what they had to say, even though it was the truth and something they needed to hear.

It is no different today. We live in a time where relativism is deeply embedded in society, in our culture, in our way of thinking, and in our way of practicing our faiths. You believe your truth and I’ll believe my truth. Keep your religion and your religious values to yourself!

How often have we heard the saying, in order to keep the peace, we don’t talk about politics and religion. Don’t rock the boat. Why? Because these are topics that challenge us to speak and address certain truths that we do not all agree on. We are very much divided when it comes to politics and religion. And we are often not willing to meet people where they are at, but rather we are in it to win the argument for the sake of winning the argument, and in the end we alienate instead of convert the persons we love.

But that’s not how we should be, and that’s not how Jesus rolls. When Jesus ate with the tax collectors, prostitutes, and other sinners, he did not do so to accept and condone their behavior, or to gain favor with them, but rather to call them to redemption by being compassionate with them and meeting them where they are. And his actions were met with opposition from the religious leaders of his time. The women caught in adultery, when no one was left to condemn her, Jesus not only told her he did not condemn her but said to her go and sin no more. Compassionate, but yet challenging her to make a change in her life.

This is the good news of the Gospel. The good news of Redemption, Reconciliation, and Resurrection. The truth about the Love that God has for us, so much so that he sent his only begotten son to suffer and die for us, so that we might be reconciled to him, and……, and to live according to his plan for us! And that right there is challenging and difficult for us, living according to his plan for us! A plan which includes being purified and refined, like gold that is tested in fire.

Jesus came to set the earth on FIRE! Jesus’ proclamation of the kingdom is that of a refining and purifying fire. His message when met with acceptance or rejection will be a source of conflict and division even among family.

And when we allow ourselves to be refined and purified, we find ourselves compelled to share his message, to speak the truth about such things like the sanctity of human life, about the sacredness of marriage, about religious liberty, and other core beliefs and values. And when we do speak the truth, even when we do so in a loving and compassionate way, as we should, like Jeremiah and the other prophets, we will make family and friends who do not wish to hear the truth of the Gospel, uncomfortable.

Yet, this is part of what it means to evangelize. To be on fire with the Holy Spirit. To desire for others to know the Truth. To desire for others to accept the life God wants for them. To want others to live both in the Kingdom now and in the Kingdom to come. And as we do so, to do so with perseverance as in running a race. A race in which we focus on keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus. To hear his voice, to follow him, and to proclaim him.

However, in order to be able to speak the truth, we must know the truth. We must be willing to take the time to form ourselves, our religious values and conscience. We need to make time to read and study Scripture. To learn about the teachings of the Church. To spend time in prayer, so as to be open to the movement of the Holy Spirit.

A generation or two ago, these Summer Sundays in Ordinary Time would have been known as Sundays “of Pentecost” to help us recall that the Spirit’s Pentecost fire is to carry us all through to the end of the Liturgical year.

It is with this Fire of the Holy Spirit that we are to set the earth on Fire with the Gospel message. We are to be blazing with the Fire of the Holy Spirit proclaiming the Truth of the Gospel. To meet people where they are with grace and compassion while lovingly sharing with them the truth of the Gospel, but also without fear of persecution, and with the knowledge that some may not accept the message. Even so, we still need to plant the seed with the hope that a spark will be ignited, and a heart will be set on fire.

Remember, Jesus endured the cross for us, despising its shame, for the sake of the joy that lay before him, our redemption, and the glory of the resurrection. And so nourished by his body and blood, we follow him as we go forth setting the earth on fire for him.