Light the Fire

Well it is Monday…and it is cold in my house.

I assumed that with the winter almost over I would not need to maintain the wood furnace so much…

…but waking up this morning it is now obvious that I was wrong.

So here I am sitting by the fire…

…hopeful as I look at the coals and yet consistently disappointed that…

…any flame that seems to appear is blown out the moment I turn my eye from it.

I have stuff to get the fire started, and I have been relying on it heavily, but now I am awake to the possibility that it might not be the right kind of kindle at all.

And the thought has struck me…

Isn’t this precisely what has been happening in the world of evangelization?

There are some who really do think that we are beyond the need to evangelize;

…that it had its place in something like the winter of the Church perhaps, but since Vatican II…

…it has come and gone, and it is time to move on.

There are others who are constantly amazed that the fire is not ablaze already.

AFTER ALL…

…they had already tended to that need;

…answered that person’s question…

…provided the parish program that would really knock them off their feet.

AND SOME OF US…

…have learned the hard way that every soul is like a single coal just waiting for the right kindle.

Knowing that when you first see the flame that it was called to be, you cannot take your eyes from it…

…assuming that it will break forth into some self sustaining heat.

No, you must constantly feed it, encouraging where you can;

…providing it with all the oxygen of God that you can convey.

SO TODAY

While you tend to the soul our God has called you to…

REMEMBER

That soul will ‘light’ if you find the right fuel; and it will burst into flame over time IF you don’t forget about it.

Have a great Monday, friends.

in Christ, patrick