20th Sunday Year C 2025

There once was a fire that terrified nations. "It will consume everything!" they screamed, fleeing its advance. But the fire thundered back: "You fools! I am not your enemy. I devour rubbish but forge steel from iron. I burn away your chains but leave unbreakable diamonds."

This fire has forever haunted God's people—not to destroy, but to transform.

Jeremiah experienced it. Thrown into a pit for speaking the truth, he sank into freezing mud, certain that death had found him. Yet even there, God's fire blazed within his bones. The prophet emerged not broken, but unbreakable. His words became flames that no king could extinguish.

The runners in Hebrews' felt this fire in their lungs as they stumbled, bloodied and gasping. "Look ahead!" came the cry. "See Jesus, who conquered the cross itself! Your pain is not punishment—it is preparation. Joy opens its arms to you at the finish!"

Christ Himself declared: "I came to cast fire upon the earth!" Not the fire of hatred, but of holy disruption. His flame comforts the faithful even as it unsettles the comfortable. Its challenge: Will you stand for truth when it costs everything?

Our world burns today. Putin's war machines grind through Ukraine. Gaza bleeds. Refugees flee. Children weep in languages we cannot understand. Leaders shake hands while cities crumble behind them. The weight feels unbearable.

Yet Christ's call echoes through the smoke: Endure. Persevere. Keep your faith ablaze.

You know this fire. Perhaps it is drowning in your own well of unemployment, illness, or broken relationships. Maybe you're stumbling in the race, lungs burning with exhaustion. Some of you are watching loved ones suffer while you stand helpless.

Here is a truth that will either break you or remake you: The fire is not your enemy.

Every trial is part of God's refinery. Every hardship burns away what makes one weak, leaving behind what makes one unstoppable. The cross looked like defeat until Sunday morning burst open with resurrection. Jeremiah's pit became his pulpit. Pain can become your purpose.

Stop fearing the flames. Jesus carried his cross to victory. Jeremiah rose from the depths. The fire that seems bent on your destruction is actually forging your destiny.

The fire that refines you today will illuminate the path for others tomorrow. Beyond every flame lies the joy of God’s kingdom, where tears become triumphs and peace reigns eternal.

Your refinement is not just for you—it is for everyone watching; wondering if they too can survive their fire.

Show them they can!!

by Fr. Thomas O'Brien