Have you ever burnt yourself? Remember the relentless pain only relieved by continuous icing. Think of the power of fire, its power for good, its power for evil.
Fire can cook your food, heat your home, provide a cheerful warmth in the fireplace on a snowy night when Jack Frost nips at your nose. It can make a fun, happy memory for little ones at an outside bonfire or an indoor winter picnic with hot dogs and marshmallows on the menu.
In the hands of an arsonist or in a natural disaster, fire destroys quickly and indiscriminately. It spews out of a volcano hot enough to melt rocks and wipes out entire forests after a lightening strike. But it also lights the sanctuary candle reminding us who resides in the tabernacle.
Yes, fire is a force to be treated with respect. No wonder some pagan cultures worshiped fire. We don't worship fire in its natural form, but we do worship the God of fire whose love kindles the spirit of sacrifice and the zeal for souls and sends us forth like the disciples to renew all things in Christ.
Fill us with that fire, Lord, today on the feast of Pentecost and every day of our lives. Fulfill in us the prayer of St. Teresa of Avila, "Make me a burning furnace of charity."
Through Christ Our Lord, Amen.
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