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John 20:19–23 or John 15:26–27; 16:12–15
“When he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth.”
The image of the monk with ten fingers blazing fills me with longing for a more authentic faith. But it’s also intimidating. To live that kind of passion means surrendering the modest but satisfying route I’ve taken this far. It’s much less demanding to be the sort of Christian who goes to Mass, makes charitable contributions, prays for peace, and then returns to the real world to do my chores and watch Netflix. I was bred to be a law-abiding citizen and a good Catholic, but not a hero or a saint.
Ten fingers blazing is what Frances Cabrini had when she took perilous ocean voyages to minister to unwelcome Italian-Americans consigned to urban slums and rural coal mines. Hands-on-fire describes Francis Xavier Seelos, who remained in New Orleans to care for yellow fever victims long after most citizens abandoned the city. Katharine Drexel was a human flame when she insisted that black lives matter and Native American lives matter, in a nation just a few steps beyond the Civil War and the Trail of Tears. Who will embrace the vocation of fire in this generation?
The defense of the good-enough Christian crumbles every Pentecost. What will you do to set the world ablaze with truth?
While The Gospel at Home takes a break in the summer months, we’ll be drawing our weekly reflections from Exploring the Sunday Readings.
Image credit: M.MIGLIORATO/CPP/CIRIC
