I have come to set the earth on fire

25 OCTOBER (Lk 12,49-53)

The fire of Jesus Christ is the Holy Spirit, cast by him from Heaven on the day of Pentecost in the Upper Room so that he alighted on the disciples and on those who were present.

When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim. Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven staying in Jerusalem. At this sound, they gathered in a large crowd, but they were confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language. They were astounded, and in amazement they asked, “Are not all these people who are speaking Galileans? Then how does each of us hear them in his own native language? We are Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya near Cyrene, as well as travelers from Rome, both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs, yet we hear them speaking in our own tongues of the mighty acts of God.” They were all astounded and bewildered, and said to one another, “What does this mean?” But others said, scoffing, “They have had too much new wine.” Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice, and proclaimed to them, “You who are Jews, indeed all of you staying in Jerusalem. Let this be known to you, and listen to my words. These people are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: ‘It will come to pass in the last days,’ God says, ‘that I will pour out a portion of my spirit upon all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. Indeed, upon my servants and my handmaids I will pour out a portion of my spirit in those days, and they shall prophesy. And I will work wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below: blood, fire, and a cloud of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the coming of the great and splendid day of the Lord, and it shall be that everyone shall be saved who calls on the name of the Lord.’ (At 2,1-21).

The Holy Spirit is given in the form of fire to signify two truths of his mysterious and powerful action. The fire is an uncontrollable force. Never might one hold, stop, terminate, and imprison it. It is a force that draws more power working, acting, igniting hearts and minds. Wherever the fire goes, it destroys, and annihilates. But in its footsteps there is also the constant birth of a new life. It destroys and regenerates, knocks down and recreates. It eliminates what is old. It gives new life, the very life of God.

“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. From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three; a father will be divided against his son and a son against his father, a mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother, a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”

The baptism of Jesus is that of blood. He will be entirely immersed in his blood, and made perfect by it. His same blood will have to immerse, submerge, as a flood of grace and holiness, the human race, until the end of the world, so that it is purified, sanctified, regenerated to new life; it is made to share in the divine nature; it is given the high dignity of a true son of God.

The peace of Jesus is not the one men give: a false, untruthful, lying peace, a fictitious agreement, a ceasefire to prepare for another even more ruthless and cruel war. The peace of Jesus is in reconciliation with God and with the brothers, because it is in the change in the very nature of man, which from a nature of sin becomes a nature of grace and truth; from a human nature, it is made to share in the divine nature. This is a personal, and not a community peace. It is of the individual. Who enters into this peace, enters into an eternal war with the world. The world will want to annihilate, destroy, delete him. This is the division that Christ came to bring on to the earth.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels, and Saints, immerse us in the Holy Spirit.