Thursday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
(Sirach 48:1-14;
Matthew 6:7-15)
Every year forest fires
in the American Southwest destroy millions of trees. Fire also devastates buildings and too
frequently kills people. Yet pyro-technology
has been a tremendous human achievement.
Most transportation over long distances is facilitated by fire. In today’s first reading the prophet Elijah is
celebrated as the Bible’s great pyro-technician.
Elijah called down
fire to consume the animal sacrifice that showed the Lord as the one, true
God. He also was sent to heaven in a
whirlwind of fire. Elijah’s fire symbolizes
God’s fierce love for His people. As
fire flares up, so God demands that His people care for one another. He is especially concerned that the rich do
not forget the needy.
Pierre Teilhard
de Chardin, a twentieth century mystical theologian, used fire to describe the
power of love. He wrote, “Someday, after mastering the winds, the
waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love,
and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have
discovered fire.”
