The Fire of Christ's Love

Homily for Thursday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time

Paul prays today that we may "have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones what is the breadth and length and height and depth" of Christ's love. It is one of the most beautiful prayers in all of Scripture. Paul wants us not merely to know about Christ's love but to be filled with it. He prays that we may comprehend, understand and stand in awe of the immeasurable dimensions of Christ's love.

St. Paul of the Cross spent his life contemplating where that love is most clearly revealed. His contemplation of the Cross recalls St. Francis's practice of meditating on the Passion of Christ each day between noon and three o'clock, a practice still embraced by many Franciscans today. As a result, both saints almost become interpreters of today's reading from Ephesians. They teach us that the breadth and length and height and depth of Christ's love are revealed most clearly in the Cross.

That prayer helps us understand the challenging words of Jesus in today's Gospel. Jesus speaks of casting fire upon the earth. The fire of which he speaks is the burning love of God revealed in him, a love so powerful that it demands a response. Some welcome that love and allow it to transform their lives; others resist it. That is why even God's love can become a source of division.

Today we remember St. Paul of the Cross, the founder of the community we know as the Passionists. They particularly devote their lives to preaching about the Passion. For them and for us, the Cross is the clearest revelation of the breadth and length and height and depth of Christ's love. Looking upon the Crucified Lord, St. Paul and St. Francis saw how far God's love would go to save the world. And that vision set their hearts on fire.

The same invitation is given to us today. The more we stand before the mystery of the Cross, the more we discover the immeasurable love of Christ. And as that love fills our hearts, the fire that Jesus came to cast upon the earth begins to burn within us as well.