Lk 12: "FIRE" by deacon Jim Moss

Transcription

1 Lk 12: "FIRE" by deacon Jim Moss I have come to set the earth on fire Pope Francis recently released an encyclical entitled, Lumen Fidei, the light of faith. Pope Benedict had started it and Pope Francis finished it so that it could be released during this the, Year of Faith. From Lumen Fidei, those who believe, see; they see with a light that illumines their entire journey, for it comes from the risen Christ. And The light of Faith is unique since it is capable of illuminating every aspect of human existence. This light of Faith, our acceptance of God s love for us, is the fire that Jesus is talking about in our gospel. Our awareness of, and acceptance of God s love will set us on fire. Does your Faith in God s love set you on fire; are you on fire for Jesus? Does God really, really matter to you? Does your Catholic faith really matter to you? In order to get at the answers to these questions we must first understand the context within which we ask them. That context is a relationship between God and ourselves, a relationship that he offers to each of us. In a relationship between us and someone else, we know some basic foundational things about ourselves and the other person: who we are, who they are, in what way are we connected, why we are connected. We know some basic things that establish a context, a basis

2 for our relationship. To begin to understand our relationship with God we must know these foundational things that establish the context for our relationship with Him. These foundational things are about God and you and I, and every human being. For our purposes there are five: The FIRST foundation in our relationship with God is; God created you and I and every human being so that He could love us. His love for us is the basis for all that is. Authority and power with a scorecard He is not! He is a loving Father and we His children. From father Robert Barron, his book entitled, The Strangest Way : At the center of Christianity is God who comes after us with a reckless abandon, breaking open His own heart in love in order to include us in the rhythm of His own life. The SECOND foundation in our relationship with God is; He created us to live in a relational existence, to Him, to each other, ourselves, our work, family, our play. Our entire existence is relational. Those who seek their life will lose it, and those who give up their life will find it. This scripture appears six times in the gospels and expresses what many think is the central theme of Christianity, give up your self- interest. What makes all relationships work is the Gospel, giving up our selfinterest. We know this from our own experience. The best managers, leaders, teachers, parents, and people we know are those who can give themselves up and be for somebody besides themselves. The worst managers, leaders, teachers, parents, and people we know are those who can t, those who are about themselves.

3 What works in all of our relationships, especially our relationship with God, is the path that Jesus gave us, that scripture, and the Church gives us, give ourselves. The THIRD foundation in our relationship with God is; We are spiritual beings. As human beings we are both spirit and matter. We live in two dimensions; time and space, and the spiritual dimension. From Genesis: Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. From Tielhard De Chardin a 19th century French Jesuit Philosopher; We are not human beings pursuing a spiritual existence; we are spiritual beings having a human experience. Our eternity has already begun, we are spiritual beings. We already share in God s life; we will never cease to exist. The FOURTH foundation in our relationship with God is; God is present within each human being, and is actively guiding us to Himself. God s active presence within us is varied, strange, and unpredictable, but it is not occasional. He does not come and go. He is always in pursuit of us. From St. Augustine; Late have I loved you, O beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! you were within me but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness I plunged into lovely things which you created. You were within me, but I was not with you. The FIFTH foundation in our relationship with God is; Creation is an ongoing reality, not an event. We are loved by God as we are with all of our warts, not as we think we should be. As good parents love their child, unconditionally, so God loves you and I. It is ours to respond to God s

4 love. Our journey to God, Is just that, a journey, a process, where we cooperate with God s active ever present love for us, and His continuing creation of us. It is a journey that we share with one another, where we respond to God s call for us to be His love in the world. A journey that is not so much about me as an individual as it is about all of us. Again from, Pope Francis encyclical Lumen Fidei, Christian faith, inasmuch as it proclaims the truth of God s total love and opens us to the power of that love, penetrates to the core of our human experience. Each of us comes to the light because of love, and each of us is called to love to remain in the light. Once we discover the full light of Christ s love, we realize that each of the loves in our own lives had always contained a ray of that light, and we understand its ultimate destination. That fact, that our human loves contain that ray of light, also helps us see how all love is meant to share in the complete self-gift of the Son of God for our sake. FAITH, HOPE, and LOVE; Faith, we accept God s love, Hope we trust in God s love, and Love, we give, we give God s love. These five foundations, of our relationship with God, are conditions of our existence, like gravity or the air we breathe, but do we see them that way? We see the world as we are, not as it is. We form our perceptions, our expectations, from our own experiences, from our living and learning. We form our ideas about God, and our relationship to Him the same way. How well do your ideas about the relationship between you

5 and God, your perceptions and expectations, fit into the context we just described? Do you know that you are precious to God??? YOU ARE PRECIOUS TO ME AND TO GOD!!!!!!! Now that you know who you are to God, How precious you are to Him, who is He to you? You were created in love, to be loved by God, you were Baptized in love, you were Redeemed in love, you are Destined for love. Are you not on FIRE?