My Nature Is A Fire

"Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire."
— St. Catherine of Siena

How simple, yet profound St. Catherine's words are.  We often miss the simple things.  We sometimes have a tendency to over complicate who we are and who God is.  All God calls us to is to be ourselves, which is a likeliness of his love.  Could you imagine what the world would be like if we all accepted this radical and divine truth?  If we weren't so concerned with obtaining, possessing, achieving and striving for things outside our means or reality, we'd would set the world on fire! We would be alive in the moment in love, where all things are possible.

St. Francis also shared the same sentiment as St. Catherine.  He would  pray to the Father, "God who are you and who am I?"  Wow!  What a humble and genuine thought.  To come to the realization of St. Francis and St. Catherine, that all we are is what God made us to be and that is a bellowing fire of love, if we only accept it and let it transform us. I think that when we get to this point of recognition, acceptance and communion, there is a discovery and freedom, because we've finally accepted the divine indwelling and can discard our false sense of self.  All we have to be is who we are, no more, no less.

So as St. Catherine of Siena said, let our nature be fire, God's fire!  Let us especially keep this in mind as we draw near to the Feast of Pentecost, when the Father poured out his Holy Spirit in flames among Mary and the Apostles, further igniting their fire of love within.  From this point, the Apostles were able to go out and be of service to Christ, because they accepted who God made them to be and they therefore, spread the Good News and truly set their world on fire!



My Nature is Fire

Prayer 12 (XXII)*

In your nature,

eternal Godhead,

I shall come to know my nature.

And what is my nature, boundless love?

It is fire,

because you are nothing but a fire of love.

And you have given humankind

a share in this nature,

for by the fire of love

you created us.

And so with all other people

and every created thing;

you made them out of love.

O ungrateful people!

What nature has your God given you?

His very own nature!

Are you not ashamed to cut yourself off from such a noble thing

through the guilt of deadly sin?

O eternal Trinity,

my sweet love!

You, light,

give us light.

You, wisdom,

give us wisdom.

You, supreme strength,

strengthen us.

Today, eternal God,

let our cloud be dissipated

so that we may perfectly know and follow your Truth

in truth,

with a free and simple heart.

God, come to our assistance!

Lord, make haste to help us!

Amen.

~ St. Catherine of Siena

Citation:

My Nature is a Fire.  Retrieved April 29, 2011 from:  http://mcdermott.kenrickparish.com/Prayer%2012%20My%20Nature%20is%20fire%20excerpt.htm