The second reading today from the letter to the Hebrews highlights the importance of “keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith.” We do this every time we celebrate the Eucharist and when we see Christ in others. All of the faithful people who have gone before us remind us of how important it is to keep our gaze on Christ.
Today’s gospel shows us a side of Christ that is different from our usual perception when he says, “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!” The presence of Christ is meant to be noticed and to have an effect – like a blazing fire. Some of the Christian mystics speak of their experience of God as a furnace of love.
How do you experience the fiery side of Christ? How are you affected by Christ?