Living in Southern California, the land of wild fires and firestorms, and having been born in Kansas, where prairie fires can sweep over thousands of acres, I am quite familiar with the way that a fire can change the landscape of our lives.  A fire can change everything.  The power of a fire to consume everything in its path is a frightening prospect.  On the day of Pentecost, the nascent church needed a change.  The disciples had been personal witnesses to the presence of the Risen Christ in their midst.  They had experienced a personal encounter with the Risen Christ and had touched his resurrected body, eaten with him and spent time in his Presence.  They had seen him ascend into heaven to take his place at the right hand of the Father.  The Risen Christ brought them a special gift as he stood in their midst and said: “Peace be with you.  As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”  And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the holy Spirit.  Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them and whose sins you retain are retained.”” (Jn 20,19-23)  The disciples desperately needed this gift of peace at that time.  They needed to receive the peace of forgiveness and reconciliation with the Lord.  The peace that Jesus brought to them gave them great comfort and consolation.  But now they needed more.  They needed fire.

    The disciples settled into the peace of knowing that Jesus had defeated death and was living now in the house of the Father.  They gathered for prayer and locked themselves into the Upper Room, not wishing to be disturbed by the storms and tribulations of the world outside.  They had a renewed faith and were living in the newness of life but this new faith was timid.  They were waiting for something to happen.  What happened changed the landscape of their lives.  Jesus sent to them fire.  Jesus did not intend for them to withdraw from the world and wait out their lives in a hidden existence.  Now was the time to set the earth on fire!  Jesus had shared with them his ardent desire that the world might be transformed by his presence.  “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!  There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!  Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth?”  (Luke 12,49-51)  Jesus gave to them a gift of peace but he did not yet intend to establish that peace on the earth.  First, things needed to be transformed.  This transformation would begin with a new baptism for his believers and this baptism would be a baptism in fire.  

    The baptism of the Holy Spirit is a baptism of fire sent to awaken a transforming fire within the hearts and lives of believers.  Pentecost is the time in which Jesus sends the divine spark of the purifying love of the Father into the world to begin the process of transformation.  This divine spark of love sets the world ablaze with the gift of God that is the holy Spirit of love and truth.  St. Paul exhorts Timothy, “For this reason, I remind you to stir into flame the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands.  For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control.  So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord.” (2Tim 1,6-8)  The disciples needed a little fire in their bellies, in their hearts and in their minds.  The holy Spirit brings this fire to the earth:  “And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were.  Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them.  And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit…” (Acts 2,2ff)  John the Baptist had foretold of this baptism in fire:  “John answered them all, saying, “I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming…He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”  (Luke 3,15f)

    In his recent apostolic exhortation, Rejoice and Be Glad, Pope Francis reminds us that holiness “is boldness, an impulse to evangelize and to leave a mark in this world…Boldness and apostolic courage are an essential part of mission.”  On Pentecost, the apostles shook off their timidity and allowed the Spirit to set their hearts on fire.  St. Paul urges the Romans:  “Do not grow slack in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.”  (Rom 12,11)  Our witness to Jesus needs to be bold, courageous and filled with zeal!

    The Eucharist is the fuel for the fire of the Spirit in our hearts.  “He who eats it with faith,” said St. Ephram, “Eats Fire and Spirit…Take and eat this, all of you, and eat with it the Holy Spirit.”  We need to be fire-eaters, filled with the Spirit of God and bold in our proclamation of the gospel.  In this way we will set the earth on fire!