Delivered by Angeline from the Parish of Saint Catherine of Siena in the Diocese of Bridgeport, United State; Romans 6: 19-23; Rs psalm 1: 1-2.3.4.6; Luke 12: 49-53.

THE FIRE THAT ALWAYSLIGHTENS ON EARTH

Our meditation todayis the entitled: The Fire that Always Lightens on Earth. There is a soccer teamthat has done a series of preparation, apparently could not provide theexpected results. They lost three times consecutively. The reason is that thecoach was not serious. He did not act firmly when there is indisciplinarybehavior among his players. Finally, the management decided to replace him witha new coach who is considered more experienced and professional.

The coach implementedhard exercises to every player. He figured out the highest target and demandedthat the players had a high motivation to achieve it. The coach's words andactions were decisive and tend to be very hard, resulting fear, nervousness,tremble and giving up from the players. In general, we are also in this samesituation. When the method of education and formation is firm and verydemanding in discipline, people prefer to give up and stop.

We read in Gospel aboutsome of Jesus' disciples could not stand and chose to leave Him. The reason isbecause Jesus' words are considered very hard to bear. For them Jesus is a hardperson. But Peter represented his colleagues to choose to stay and be faithful,through his famous statement: to whom else should we go, Lord?

We also choose tostay with Peter. The proof is that, we have been with our faith until now: Towhom else should we go? We can't go to another heart! This radical choice wasalso made by the Romans in the time of Saint Paul. They resolved to abandontheir old lifestyle, which had prostituted their bodies and souls because ofall pleasures of this world. They chose life, not death. They embraced a newlife of freedom as sons and daugters of God.

But this choice isnot without many risks. It is said so clearly, Jesus Christ is like a fire thatcannot be extinguished. Fire becomes a light that dispels the darkness, butalso burns the parts that are not useful or not for our need. It means thatthose who are not in line with God will disappear, then separating those whoare with God. This is where the separation occurs between humans, eventragically happens also in our families.

Our families todaymay be polarized between faithful members of the Church who are active andinvolved in the spiritual life of following Jesus Christ responsibly, and thosewho are passive, dry, away from the Church, and even those whose faith isdying. This separation of life must be eliminated, and this is our common dutyto do together. But we must continue to use Jesus as the true fire on thisearth.

Let's pray. In the name of the Father...O heavenly Father, look and bless us who are fragile in spirit to endure ourfidelity to You. Our fragile family and community desperately need Yourintervention. Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit ... Inthe name of the Father ...