In the dark of night, at the beginning of the Easter Vigil
seven weeks ago, the new Easter Candle was blessed, and for the past seven
weeks of the Easter season we have kept the Easter Candle here in the
sanctuary, lighting it every time we have celebrated Mass.
The work of bees and of human hands, the living flame of the
Easter Candle reminds us through the Easter season that Christ is alive, that
he rose from the dead.
The Easter Vigil begins with the Easter Candle coming into
the Church, the Church singing “Lumen Christi- light of Christ”. The light of Christ burns even in the
darkest of nights. Then, if you’ve attended the easter vigil you know that smaller
candles are lit from that one light, and held by every baptized member of the
Church: a symbol of how the light and life of Christ has been spread to each of
us. This is my favorite part of the entire Church year. From the light of those
smaller candles, the Church is filled with this holy glow—there is nothing
quite like it.
The tall, white candle reminds us of God’s faithfulness and
love throughout human history. Like the
pillar of fire that led the Israelites through the desert to the promised land,
the easter candle symbolizes the Christian faith that is to guide us out of our
slavery of sin and selfishness, through this world of trials and temptations,
into the promised land of heaven.
But today, at the end of the Easter season, we’ll remove the
Easter candle from the sanctuary. Why? Does
the removal of the Easter Candle mean that Christ is no longer among us? Of course not. In fact, another candle, the sanctuary lamp
beside the tabernacle reminds us that Christ is truly and really present with
us in the Eucharist.
But, on this feast of Pentecost, when we hear of the holy
spirit coming upon the apostles like tongues of fire, we celebrate a new season
of the Church, when we ourselves are to be the Easter Candles, burning flames
of wisdom, pillars of the Christian faith, beacons of the light of love, light
houses of Christian hope.
The Easter Candle is our birthday Candle. And we blow it out today, only that we can
become candles, not burning with physical flame, but burning with the fire of
the Holy Spirit.
Every year, when I wished my grandfather a Happy Birthday,
he would say, today is not my birthday, it is the anniversary of my birth. Well, today, this Pentecost Sunday, is when
we celebrate the anniversary of our birth into Christ by the power of the holy
spirit, when we became living flames that glow for the honor of God.
At our Baptism, a smaller candle was lit from the easter
candle and given to us, as the priest said “receive the light of Christ. You have been enlightened by Christ. Walk always as a child of the light and keep
the flame of faith alive in your heart.”
Many of you may still have that candle you received at baptism, but more
importantly, you have the flame of faith.
What we do with that flame of faith will determine our
eternal destiny. Do we hide it under a
bushel, pretending at times that we are not Christian? Do we allow the winds of sin to extinguish
the flame of? Or do we feed the fire? Do
we help the fire grow, do we nurture it, and protect it from being blown out?
Jesus said, I have come to set the world on fire; how I wish
it were already blazing. Do we feed the
fire?
I’ve told this story before, but it’s a good one. A grandfather and a grandson are walking down
a forest path. And the grandson turns to
the grandfather and asks, “grandfather, why do we cause suffering to each
other” And the grandfather says to the
grandson, “because in each of us there is a battle between two wolves. The first wolf is all that is good in us,
joy, patience, faithfulness, gentleness, selflessness; the second is all that
is evil in us, envy, pride, impurity, gluttony, resentment, selfishness.” “Which wolf wins,” asked the grandson. “It depends on the one you feed,” said the
grandfather. “It depends on the one you
feed.”
Why is our world so full of violence, hatred, and suffering?
There are consequences when we fail to feed our faith. Garbage in, garbage out—as the saying goes.
Similarly, our easter candle is fed by oxygen. If you take away oxygen, the flame will
sputter out and die. What oxygen is for
physical fire, prayer is for our Christian identity. If we
don’t pray, every day, we will become joyless, mediocre Christians. Here at St. Clare we have a beautiful
Eucharistic Adoration chapel. Vocations
flourish, marriages are strengthened, sinners are converted, where a parish is
devoted to the Eucharist. You want
peace you’ve never known, you want joy you’ve never experienced? Visit the chapel for an hour every week. Come
to the Lord in the Eucharist.
One of her novices came to Mother Theresa complaining that
spending an hour in the Eucharist was a waste of time, that she could spend
that hour out in the streets taking care of the poor. To that, Mother Theresa replied, dear sister,
you need two hours. If you don’t think
you need to spend time with the Lord in prayer, you need to spend more time
with the Lord in prayer! So often, with all of the responsibilities, and
stresses of life, prayer is the first thing to go. Yet, during these times of
stress, we need more prayer, not less.
Another lesson from our easter candle is that when a candle
is lit for a long time, wax can begin to accumulate and start to stifle the
flame. The wax needs to be cut away so
the flame can thrive again. If we are
not constantly vigilant, little acts of selfishness, like wax can really start
to build up. How do we clean away the
stifling wax of selfishness? In the Sacrament of Confession.
I like to go to confession once a month. Pope John Paul II went every week. Not because he nor I are committing mortal
sins, but as you spend time in prayer, the Lord starts to illuminate your
selfishness. He wants to perfect us; he
wants that flame to burn as bright as possible.
If you haven’t been to confession in over a year. It’s time!
Make a good examination of conscience in light of the Lord’s 10
commandments; compare yourself, not to your neighbor, but to the Lord, to His
Blessed Mother, to His Saints.
When we ourselves make frequent use of confession, we become
a more authentic witness of the Gospel
Prayer, Penance, and Service. Service, works of charity,
works of mercy, really is like the gasoline thrown on the fire. During this
Year of Mercy, Pope Francis has called each of us to engage seriously in the
works of mercy. Can you name the works of mercy? The corporal works and the
spiritual works? Engage in them in a deeper, more committed way, and watch the
flame of faith become emblazoned in your heart!
Pope Benedict wrote, the love of God is the light—and in the
end, the only light—that can always illuminate a world grown dim and give us
the courage needed to keep living and working.
May this celebration of Pentecost cause the flame of love to grow ever
more brightly for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
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