Set Ablaze: Harness the power of evangelization: Homily for Thursday, October 26, 2023

This is a very Dominican gospel. Listening to Jesus talk about how he wants to set the world on fire. That he, in fact, is the Lord of all. He has come to establish a kingdom. He gives his life for our sins. He leads us to eternal life. And he can't wait to get that adventure underway. The image of a flame is an important one. St. Catherine of Siena said that if we were who we were meant to be, we would set the world on fire. St. Dominic is often pictured in an image with a dog that has a torch in its mouth. Because Dominic's mother had a dream that she had given birth to a dog. Who would, in fact, set the world on fire. The challenge, of course, is that we live in a world that doesn't always want to hear what could lead to fulfillment. This isn't just something that occurs in a religious sense. I suspect at one time or another, if we go to the dentist or the doctor, we will be given a little bit of chiding, perhaps, that we're not doing all the things that we should do in order to be healthy. The same is true with faith. In so many ways, what Jesus is trying to help us to see is that each one of us should, in fact be ready to do our part to ignite this blaze. On the friar, you can listen to our homilies (based on the readings of the day) and reflections. You can also ask us to pray for you or to pray for others. You can subscribe to our website to be informed whenever we publish an update.