Set the World on Fire

I have always loved these words from St. Catherine of Siena, “Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.” We see this on tee shirts, journal covers and I even have it in my email signature.

But what do those words really mean, practically speaking, in our daily lives? I don’t know about you, but I often don’t feel like my ordinary life is setting things on fire.

But then let’s think about starting a fire. We have an old-fashioned wood-burning stove in our kitchen, with no gas starter, so It’s really challenging to get a fire going. We use different types of kindling and patiently feed a few sparks with more wood until it catches on and ignites the bigger logs — which eventually results in a strong blaze … and a nice warm kitchen.

If we look at starting a fire in a spiritual sense —lighting up our souls with prayer, Scripture study, the Sacraments, and acts of charity — over time these habits ignite our hearts with more love for God and neighbor. When the flame of faith is fanned, it catches on to others. The spiritual life takes patience, care and nurturing, like starting a fire; if we don’t stay united to God in this process, the embers of love can quickly fade and die out.

Let’s look at setting the world on fire. Some saints did visibly great things, but most saints are relatively unknown and grew in love (greatness) over the course of a mostly hidden life. They were often of ill health and had to persevere through many obstacles to do God’s will. One thing they had in common was the fire of faith that carried them through their lives and grew into magnificent flames of love by the time they were called to their eternal home.

It seems that setting the world on fire is the result of patiently seeking to be the person God created us to be with our unique mission and circumstances — and persevering through all of it with great love. So that fire is love … and if it is real, the flame of love will grow and ignite others.

A friend of mine died of cancer recently and I had the privilege of visiting her in Hospice before she passed into eternal life. God has given me the grace to be comfortable in a Hospice environment and I love being with the sick and dying near the end of their lives as God is so present there. 

My friend told me she loved God and she was grateful to have received Last Rites. Her family was by her side through the entire cancer journey and they had done everything that was medically possible. She said she was at peace, grateful for the loving support of family, friends, and her trusted medical team and she was ready to go home to God.

She was setting the world on fire for all who were touched by her illness and passing. By God’s grace, she was able to do, what we all hope we can do in death … trust in God and be at peace in his embrace as we return home. Her faithful witness was a form of evangelization on her death bed. I believe that the impact of her joyful witness will stay with me forever. 

The fire of her love for God was ablaze in her heart, and since our time together, I have shared her story with many people, and now I am sharing it with you. So the fire of her faith continues to burn bright and set others aflame even though she isn’t physically here anymore — all praise and glory to God!

So I think my takeaway is this … setting the world on fire is about being true to what God is individually calling us to do — right here and right now — sharing whatever gifts we have with as much love as we can muster. The example of St. Therese’s ‘Little Way’ challenges us to love the people God places in our ordinary lives and this may be exactly what God is calling us to do to set the world on fire.

Our fire may not be fully visible to anyone except God (many did not truly know St. Therese’s holiness until well after her death), but that doesn’t matter. God sees and loves even a tiny flicker, a small burning ember, and the more we lean on him, the more he fans the flames of love in our hearts. Be who you were meant to be and you will set the world on fire.

St. Peter the Rock

It is both holy and healthy to reflect on the New Testament readings from daily Mass this Easter season as the apostles are on fire with the Holy Spirit and begin to teach, preach and evangelize freely.

From Acts of the Apostles 4:13-14, “Observing the boldness of Peter and John and perceiving them to be uneducated, ordinary men, the leaders, elders, and scribes were amazed, and they recognized them as the companions of Jesus.”

Peter went from denying Christ to preaching boldly in the name of Jesus at risk of imprisonment and even death. His courageous words challenge us to live and share our faith with others in our daily lives.

It can be difficult to know how to specifically do this in our lives today, but if we stay committed to a daily prayer life and receive the Sacraments as frequently as possible, we might be surprised how God’s grace will work in us to inspire, form, transform, and enliven us with the Holy Spirit to be more fully alive in our faith — and willing to bravely share the Gospel message in the ordinary circumstances of our lives.

I’d like to use the Knights of Columbus as an example. Their humble service in parishes around the world is a beautiful example of being St. Peter-like by serving in many ways in their families, parishes, communities as a result of their relationship with Jesus. 

We are all called to serve and evangelize in different ways — most often the ways are quiet and behind-the-scenes, such as cleaning up after a Fish Fry, adoring our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, making dinner for a sick friend, and even allowing someone to go ahead of us while we are driving, but Jesus sees all and loves all that we do — even the tiny seeds of desire to serve that haven’t sprouted yet do not go unnoticed by our Lord.

It is my hope and prayer that as we move through this Easter season we do so with an uncommon courage and glorious hope in the power of our relationship with Jesus Christ.

St. Charles Borromeo said, “God wishes us not to rest upon anything but His infinite goodness; do not let us expect anything, hope anything, or desire anything but from Him, and let us put our trust and confidence in Him alone.”

Let us spend time in silence to get to know Jesus even better and to open our hearts to what he is asking of us. It matters not whether our time with God involves a walk in nature, listening to spiritual music, reflecting on sacred art, reading scripture, or just sitting quietly in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament.

May we take to heart these words from St. Peter the Rock in 1 Peter 3-5: 

“By his great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and to an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

Conversion

I’ve been helping people get physically stronger for nearly eight years. In that time, I’ve gone through a lot of changes in how I teach others and how I train and care for my own body. I’ve watched my students learn and grow. I’ve seen my training program, change, evolve and it continues to do so.

Change is inevitable in all areas of our lives, and it can be good, but sometimes life hits us hard with any number of challenges in family, work and life. On top of that, we are aging and dealing with forms of physical suffering, such as injury, illness and infirmity. In our physical difficulties, we learn about the spiritual power of suffering with love and perseverance—and by God’s grace, we have an opportunity to grow spiritually and to develop more compassion for the hardships faced by others.

Spiritual conversion is similar in that changes occur in us that can be both uplifting and challenging. We may experience many conversions in our lifetime as God seeks to bring us closer to him to help us grow in holiness. Changes, both big in small, by the grace of God, can lift us up, lead us into darkness, move us into new ways of serving, living and doing for God and for others. The changes might surprise us, even frighten us a little, and we may, believe it or not, even have an occasional longing for some sins that we’ve left behind.

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, #1989: “The first work of the grace of the Holy Spirit is conversion, effecting justification in accordance with Jesus' proclamation at the beginning of the Gospel: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Moved by grace, man turns toward God and away from sin, thus accepting forgiveness and righteousness from on high.”

Sometimes conversion, or this movement away from sin and toward God, means we change how we use our resources, our time, our energy, and even the people we spend our time with. We might be called to simplify, to give more, to lead or to follow in new ways, to pray more, or to just be more. God works with us so personally that the path of conversion is not predictable nor is it ever universal.

I look to the saints for wisdom on this journey of conversion which we pray continues throughout our lives here on earth. The saints are regular people who had many points of conversion in their lives and grew to great holiness by their gradual, yet eventual submission to God’s will.

Pope Saint John Paul II encourages us. “I plead with you! Never, ever give up on hope, never doubt, never tire, never become discouraged. Be not afraid.”

The fruit of conversion can in fact, be the gift of journeying more fully with and for others. Other times, it can be more of a dark and lonely road like St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta experienced when God didn’t feel near to her — and so we rely on faith to keep moving forward without the clear light of His presence guiding us.

In our physical journey, as in our spiritual journey, there will be changes, conversions, movements, big and small, good and not so good — I pray that we listen to our bodies and respond with prudent care — and more importantly, listen to God, accept and cooperate with his grace with a steely focus on the ultimate goal of eternal life.

St. Padre Pio knows well the struggles we face. “The life of a Christian is nothing but a perpetual struggle against self; there is no flowering of the soul to the heart of its perfection except at the price of pain.”