Spiritual GPS
HAVE WE KEPT IT TOO SECRET?
Remember when we were kids and we had a special secret that we wanted
to share with one of our best friends?  We would make sure that they would
keep the secret before we started to reveal what it was.  Jesus was like
that too. He had some best friends that he shared things with and some of
the things really confused them because they thought that He would always
be with them. One of the things that really confused them was when He
mentioned that He would be handed over to the High Priest and crucified.
That must have been a real shocker – they could not just comprehend that!

Another instance for His zeal for souls is when He tells them that He “came
to cast fire upon the earth and would that it were already kindled”.  He has a
holy impatience to explode with this love and offer Himself as a holocaust to
His Father with this burning desire on the cross for the sake of you and me.  
He is like a bush of tinder just waiting for the spark that will enkindle Him
onto His eternal wish – to show us that no one has greater love for another
unless that man lay down his life for another.  Again His apostles were
amazed as what they heard. We know after centuries of study that he was
telling us what He would do for us. Lay down His life for our salvation.  And
then He tells us to follow Him, just like the Apostles

Think of John Paul II, think of Mother Theresa, Padre Pio.   Just a few
people of our last couple generations.  Think of this.  When the Holy Spirit
descended upon the Apostles, what sign did He give?  Fire!  We always
associate fire with the love of God and the love of the Blessed Lady.  The
fire of His divine Heart is there to inflame us, if you will, so we will go and do
likewise in the world. The fire of divine Love was given to the Apostles and
to many who would carry it and ignite the rest of the world as His Apostles
in the pagan world.  Look and see just what twelve persons did since the
beginnings of  Christianity The Church today is over 800,000,000 strong –
we find catholic churches on all the continents with millions of  believers
sharing in that love of Christ and His mother.

Over enemies within and without, this love of God still continues to work for
the   salvation  of souls like yours and mine, trying to bring all souls to Him in
heaven, even those who have forsaken Him for the worship of some idols,
whether it is power, money, fame or human respect.

We might ask ourselves “ Where is this tremendous fire  in today’s world?”  
It is there, but just like the Apostle we have to be shaken up a bit to realize
what that Love can do for and to us. Remember a little Iris h girl named Edel
Quinn, a gentleman named Frank Duff? Why did that fire ignite them and has
not yet driven our souls for the same reason?

Probably they did not have the same fear as we might have of the love of
God because when they loved they were not afraid to give everything they
had to their Beloved. Maybe they loved more to be loved in return and have
that fire burst into flame for the souls of mankind. Think how great it would
be if each would start a small  fire in our family, our organizations, our
neighborhood, our town. What a great thing that would be,

What would it take to get such a fire going?  Remember when Jesus
ascended into heaven.

He gave us one last instruction: Go and preach the Gospel and baptize in
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. But we have to
take that seriously. We are in an organization that really has to take that
seriously. Our Apostolate should spread like wildfire if each Christian who
lives in Faith seriously becomes a point of ignition at his or her family,
workplace, among friends and acquaintances. Now for most of us we try
hard, but maybe if we listen to St Paul we might find it a little easier to do
just what Jesus and Mary want us to do.  This we can do in the Mass and
try to get that fire ignited.  Maybe our problem is that His secret that was
given to us is just kept a good secret from the rest of the world. I don’t think
He intended to keep the secret secret.


©2009 Fr. Louis Schlangen