VinFormation

Father Bruce Krause, CM on keeping charism’s fire alive:

I love to barbecue the old fashioned way using charcoal briquettes. I love the flavor it offers meat and fish. Yet, it is often necessary to fan the flame so that all the charcoal will ignite and burn. Reliance upon the wind as a fan is somewhat unpredictable. The effect of wind can be significant for a variety of sports and activities, including flying, sailing, kite flying, baseball and golf. The questions I ask: What ignites us? What keeps the flame going? Have we become lukewarm or like salt that has lost its flavor? See Revelations 3:16 and Mark 9:49-50.

The conferral of the Spirit upon the disciples was hardly lukewarm. It was bold and decisive. There was a mighty wind.

It is true for us as well, although its conferral does not mean that we should have experienced something quite extraordinary as we are apt to expect in a Cecil B. Demille film.

Unlike the fanning of the charcoal briquettes, the enflaming of our lives through the gift of the charism is somewhat unpredictable.