TO THE EDITOR:
Did the Prince of Peace really mean, “I have come to set the earth on fire and how I wish it were already blazing,” (Luke 12:49), as we heard in last Sunday’s Gospel? Then I remembered Pentecost and the “tongues as of fire” descending upon the apostles as an outward sign of the Holy Spirit. That every one of us would be aware of, receptive to and inspired by the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. When we are on fire with the presence of the Holy Spirit, we must realize that the second part of that Gospel reading (Luke 12:51-52) was Jesus’ reality warning that the truth expressed or demonstrated by us will not always or immediately be accepted and will very often be met with strong, sometimes violent, resistance, even by those we love in this world.
Ray Hodges, North Scituate
