Thursday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
“I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!” In today’s Gospel, Christ proclaims his battle against lukewarmness, a spiritual disease that keeps us content with mediocrity. Christ wants us fiercely passionate about the Kingdom of Heaven – eternal life with him is the very reason for our existence, and he wants us to live like that’s the case, even if it rocks the boat.
The lukewarmness that Christ is battling is as present today as it was in his day. So often we think of our faith and salvation as something “tacked on” to our week: we work, we relax, and maybe (if we have time) we pray. Perhaps we give up an hour for Mass, and if Mass goes over an hour, we feel robbed. It’s fine, we think – we’re not on fire with faith, but at least we’re not completely irreligious. We’re simply lukewarm.
This feeling is human. Anyone, even a vowed religious, can experience this at times. But Christ is trying hard to wake us up, to light a fire in our hearts, to make our relationship with him and our eternal life the center of our lives. Today, let’s pray for the grace to hear his call and kindle that flame, so that we can escape lukewarmness and strive for his Kingdom daily.