From the Deacon's Desk

If interested, the following is the homily I delivered at the Guerin Catholic Baccalaureate Mass last night, based on the first reading (2 Timothy 1:6-12):

Seniors, as you prepare to leave your family to go off to college or wherever life takes you from here, people will be giving you advice on what to bring or what to pack. 

Your friends may want you to bring a particular framed photo to remind you of them. You may have been told to bring multiple alarm clocks so you don’t oversleep and miss your 8:00am class. I’m sure Fr. Coady, teachers, or parents have told you to bring along a bible or to “pack your faith” and take it with you. You have likely received many other reminders to bring things from home that will remind you of something or someone.

I suggest you add one more thing to that list. I suggest you take a stick with you. Yes, a stick. Pack a stick in your suitcase or in one of your boxes. When you unpack, I want you to put that stick in a prominent spot on a shelf as a reminder. More on the stick later.

Let’s talk about St. Paul’s Letter to Timothy. Timothy was put in charge of the Church in Ephesus and was going through some challenging times. He was losing hope; he was going through a dry spell.

Paul wrote a letter, to advise him and encourage him. At one point in his letter, he wrote: “…stir into flame the gift of God…”

Those same words should advise and encourage you: “…stir into flame the gift of God…”

My wife and I are fans of shows like Survivor and Alone. In any such show we watch, it is clear that fire is critical for survival. Fire is used to boil water to make it safe to drink, to cook food, and to generate heat in the cold. 

At the first tribal council on each season of Survivor, host Jeff Propst tells the contestants to light their torches from the burning fire. They need to do that, he says, because fire represents their life in the game.

When a contestant is voted out of the game, Jeff symbolically snuffs out their torch by depriving it of oxygen, indicating their “life” in the game has come to an end.

To start a fire and keep it going, three things are needed: a spark or tiny flame, oxygen, and fuel – it needs to be fed).

I remember in one episode of Alone, a man ventured quite a distance from his base camp to hunt. He lost track of time and had to spend the night in the wild. He returned the next day and as he approached his base camp he said, “I hope my fire hasn’t gone out.” I thought he was crazy! It had been almost two full days – surely his fire had gone out!

He made it back to camp and as I expected, there was no visible flame in the fire pit. However, he pulled back some of the partially burnt firewood and used a stick to stir the ashes. As he stirred, he discovered a very small ember with a slight glow. He leaned in close and blew on the ember and a tiny flame came to life. He continued to blow on it and added some dry grass and twigs. Eventually, the ember fully ignited and five minutes later he had a roaring fire once again.

The fire looked dead, but was stirred, provided oxygen, and fed – restoring life to the fire.

Remember Paul’s words, “…stir into flame the gift of God…”

You came to Guerin Catholic with a particular level of faith. We have done our best to breathe life into that faith, to feed it and make it grow. We encourage you to carry that flame of faith in your hearts as you go forward on your journey.

That said, it is not unusual for people of any age to go through a dry period when it comes to their faith, just as Timothy did in Ephesus. It is good to remember this: If and when you experience such a dry period or are feeling disconnected from your faith, the Holy Spirit will act as your advocate. Call upon the Holy Spirit for help.

Two weeks ago, on Pentecost Sunday, the scripture readings described the coming of the Holy Spirit in two different ways:

In the Acts of the Apostles, we heard, “…there appeared to the Apostles tongues of fire, which came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. 

Tongue of fire…a spark…a flame.

The Gospel of John said, And when Jesus had said this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 

Breathed on them…breath…oxygen.

When called upon, the Holy Spirit will act as flame and oxygen to help generate the fire of your faith. But now YOU must feed that flame.

The flame of faith is rarely extinguished, but it can become dormant over time, if our faith is not put into practice, if it is not fed.

We need to call upon the Holy Spirit for the breath of Jesus (oxygen) and tongues of fire (flame), and then feed that fire by attending Mass and receiving the Eucharist, by praying, and by serving others.

So, I encourage you to pack a stick and put it in a prominent place as a daily reminder of the need to feed the flame of your faith, and if necessary taken down and used to stir the ashes of your faith if it needs help in coming back to life.

When this happens, we must “stir into flame the gift of God.”