4 February 2021
Thursday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Hebrews 12:29 quotes Deuteronomy 4:24 directly when it says: “God is a consuming fire.” In Luke 12:49, Jesus said “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!” St. Ignatius Loyola frequently told people “ite inflammate omnia,” go and set all things on fire.
This is not literal, physical fire. Nobody here is encouraging arson. What is meant by this metaphor? St. Thomas Aquinas says that “intelligibilia designantur per sensibilia,” that is, that intelligible things are designated by sensible things. Reflecting on the statement from Hebrews that “God is a consuming fire,” Aquinas observed that, compared to other sensible things, fire has these qualities:
–maior nobilitas: a greater nobility
-maior claritas: a greater brilliance
-maior activitas: a greater activity
-maior altitudo in situ: a higher place
-magis purgativus: more purgative
-magis consumptivus: more consuming
These characteristics very well describe our God and make six points for your prayer today.