Fire. It's intense, beautiful, dangerous, overwhelming, warm, and all consuming. Fire can be used to warm us on a cold night, or as a way to gather friends on a summer evening. It can also yield immense destruction. Fire is powerful. This is the image that we hear about today as we learn more about the Holy Spirit. The Apostles have tongues of fire descend upon them. At our Confirmation, our hearts are set ablaze with the Holy Spirit. Think of a blazing fire, it consumes everything nearby, without hesitation or prejudice. Are we really ablaze with the love of Christ? Do we radically and unabashedly share him with those around us, setting their hearts ablaze, too?

The readings today invite us to meditate on a simple truth of our faith—God is love, and he loves us. This sentiment might not seem that impressive. These are phrases that many of us have heard since Sunday school while we were coloring pictures of Moses holding the Ten Commandments. It probably seems obvious to us . . . but that's the danger.

This truth can seem so obvious that we begin to ignore it and even disregard it. As we grow up, we forget how desperately we want to be loved. We forget that God meets this desire and exceeds it! These words hold all of our desires within them. They are powerful, deep, rich, and we can never reach the end of meditating on this mystery. "God is love, and he loves us"—a bottomless well of overflowing living waters.

The Catholic Church plays a vital role in our ability to remain on the vine throughout all of history. As new circumstances arise, God has given us the gift of the Church to help us recognize where his love is so that we can remain with him. We know that God does not ask anything from us without giving us the grace to respond, and that grace always flows through his Church so that we can be assured that we are truly following him in all truth.

When St. Paul commands us to "pray always" in his first letter to the Thessalonians, we tend to let it go in one ear and out the other. "Of course, he can't possibly mean that! He really just means to pray a lot." We so easily filter the words of Scripture based on what we think God wants from us, but then we end up missing his true message. God actually wants us to always be praying, just like St. Paul told us!

Our readings today point towards this vision God has for us, particularly when Jesus gives us the image of the vine and the branches. He promises that if we remain in him, we will bear much fruit. If always staying connected to the Lord seems out of reach, then let's remember that when God gives a command he always gives us the grace to respond. How can we stay attached to the vine and learn to pray always?

God needed to reach us, to come in a way that we would recognize him and hear his voice, and so God made himself a mere human. What amazing love Our Lord has for us! Let us spend some time together today reflecting on this love as we read of it in the first two readings and then as we hear of Christ as our good shepherd, keeping us safe from harm.