By Rev. Joe McCloskey, SJ
Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of
witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and
persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed
on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith.
Hebrews
12:1-2a
“I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish
it were already blazing! There is a baptism with which I must be
baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished! Do you
think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you,
but rather division.”
Luke 12:49-51
Piety
The fire that
burns in our hearts for Christ is our piety.
How close to Christ we come depends on that fire. If we love Christ more than anything else in
life, then we have the fire that Christ brings to us. How we walk in the footsteps of Christ
determines how close we will come to the love that God sends into our world in
His Son. We are called to love the Lord
our God with all our mind, heart and soul.
We can give all our strength of mind and body to his service if the fire
burns hot enough. We fan the fire with
our study. How much we pray makes a
difference in our following Christ. The
ways we imitate good friends help. The
frequency of Eucharist allows us to take Christ into ourselves even as we
become his presence to our world.
Study
Following in
the footsteps of the saints allows us learn how to incorporate Christ into our
own time and place even as they did for their time. Each
Saint is an update of Christ because they bring into play all they have learned
about Christ with the growth of appreciation of what Christ means to their day
and age. Every sermon we listen to gives fuel to the
fire. We have the chance to be close to
Christ by surrounding ourselves with good people. Wherever there is love, God is there. Christ has loved us with the same love that
the Father had for him. We are
challenged by Christ to love one another even as he has loved us. No greater love has anyone who gives his or
her life for another.
Action
The fire that
Christ brings into the world is divine love.
How we run the race of life to catch up to the Christ of our time brings
out many differences in all of us. The
challenge of Christ’s love in our hearts is to love one another with such a
great love that no one is able to tell whom we love the most. We are challenged to love our enemies with
the same love God has for us in the love of his Son who gives his life for the
good and the bad alike. Christ asks us
to give and not to count the cost; to fight and not to heed the wounds. There is a great crowd of witnesses to the
love of Christ and each action of our lives allows us to be one of them. We are called to live the Sacrament of the
present moment which means that all of our lives is a preparation for the
moment we are now in. It only takes the
moment now to live a lifetime of love. An
afternoon with the Lord is the equivalent of a thousand years according to
Peter. (2Peter 3:7-8) We must try to
love each other even as Christ has loved us.
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