22 October 2020
Optional Memorial of St. John Paul II, pope
The word used in the Gospels for “church” is ekklesia, a Greek word meaning “to call out of”, as out of a larger group. Jesus says in John’s Gospel “If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you,” (John 15:18-19). This is what it is to be a member of His Church, His Chosen People: called out of the world to be His own. He speaks of His wish that the whole world were ablaze; how does this relate to His later words about division and separation?
“For he will be like a refiner’s fire…” the Prophet Malachi tells us (3:2), purifying the people of the earth, using the fire of His Love—the Holy Spirit—to choose those who love Him, separating the gold from the dross, and purifying the gold even further such that it is prepared for Heaven. St. Gemma Galgani offers this image of what Scripture tells us:
“Imagine a fiery furnace, great as the universe, nay, infinitely greater, that burns everything without consuming anything, and burning, illumines and strengthens, and those who are most penetrated by its flames are happiest, and desire more ardently to be consumed. Thus I see our souls in God.”
We begin to see, then, how Jesus might divide a household, and set children against parents. The same Spirit, the same fire, seeks to consume everyone in the house, but some are resistant to the flame in varying degrees. Some are completely caught up; some are not warmed at all. Jesus does not seek to divide, but because of sin and pride, division is inevitable. How He wishes the whole world, every man, woman, and child, were consumed in the fire of God’s love, transformed and purified by it! But so often our hearts are like the Burning Bush: “…although the bush was on fire, it was not being consumed,” (Exodus 3:2).
Yield to the fire of God’s love! Do not be afraid to surrender to it, to be purified and transformed by it! For until that comes, great is our Lord’s anguish, and so too is your own, for as St. Gemma says, “…those who are most penetrated by its flames are happiest…”