The Second Burner

LENTEN RETREAT
Day 34

double-burner2

NOW here is the thing, my dear brothers and sisters: the interior life, like a hot air balloon, has not one, but two burners. Our Lord was very clear about this when He said:

You shall love the Lord your God…[and] You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (Mark 12:33)

Everything I have said to this point about soaring in the Spirit toward union with God presumes that the second burner is lit and firing as well. The first burner is to love the Lord your God, which we do foremost in an interior life of prayer. But then He says, if you really love Me, “feed my sheep”; if you really love Me, then love your neighbour who is made in my image; if you really love Me, then feed, clothe, and visit Me in the least of your brothers. Love for our neighbour is the second burner. Without this fire of love for the other, the heart will be unable to soar into the heights of union with God who is love, and will merely hover, at best, above the ground of temporal things.

If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. This is the commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother. (1 John 4:20-21)

The interior life of prayer is not only a calling into communion with God, but a commission to go out into the world and draw others into this saving love and communion. Thus, the two burners work in tandem, for we can only love others if we ourselves know that we are loved with an unconditional love, which we discover in the personal relationship of prayer. We can only forgive others when we know that we have been forgiven. We can only bring the light and warmth of Christ to others when we ourselves have been touched, surrounded, and filled by this same warmth and love. This is all to say that prayer expands the “balloon” of our heart, making room for charity—that divine love which alone is capable of piercing the depths of men’s hearts.

And so, the one who goes into solitude and prays, offering tears and supplications to God with hours of meditation and study… but then goes into the kitchen reluctantly, into the workplace or school with selfish ambition, or walks past the poor and broken-hearted with indifference… will find the flames of love, which prayer may have ignited, soon dissipating and the heart quickly plummeting earthbound again.

Jesus did not say that the world will identify His followers by their intense prayer life. Rather,

By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. (John 13:35)

To be certain, the soul of the apostolate, the heart of the vocation to motherhood and fatherhood, the spirit of the religious life and of priests, bishops, and popes is prayer. For without this abiding in Jesus, we cannot bear fruit. But as I said earlier in this Retreat, this abiding in Jesus is both prayer and fidelity.

If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love… This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. (John 15:10, 12)

Each burner is ignited by the same “pilot light” of desire: a conscious choice of the will to love God and neighbour. We see a perfect example of this in the Blessed Mother when, disregarding her own fatigue in the first months of her pregnancy, she set out across the hillside to help her cousin Elizabeth. Mary’s interior life was Jesus, both literally and spiritually. And when she came into her cousin’s presence, we hear Elizabeth say:

How does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. (Luke 1:43-44)

Here we see that the true disciple of God—the man or woman who has the Flame of Love, who is Jesus, burning in their hearts and who does not hide it beneath a bushel—also becomes “the light of the world.” ^[1]cf. Matt 5:14 Their interior life becomes manifest in a supernatural way that others can often perceive in their own hearts, even without words, as seen when John the Baptist leapt in Elizabeth’s womb. That is, Mary’s whole being was prophetic; and a prophetic life is one that “reveals the thoughts of many hearts.” ^[2]cf. Luke 2:35 It stirs within them either a hunger for the things of God, or a hatred for the things of God. As St. John said,

Witness to Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. (Rev 19:10)

So you see, prayer without service, or service without prayer, will leave either one impoverished. If we pray and go to Mass, but do not love, then we discredit the Gospel. If we serve and help others, but the flame of love for God remains unlit, then we fail to impart the transforming power of love, which is “witness to Jesus.” There is a great difference between Saints and social workers. Social workers leave behind a trail of good deeds, which others usually soon forget; Saints leave behind the aroma of Christ which lingers for centuries.

In closing, then, we see revealed now the seventh path that opens our hearts to the presence of God:

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. (Matt 5:9)

To be a peacemaker is not merely to end strife, but to bring the peace of Christ wherever go. We become carriers of God’s peace when, like Mary, our interior life is also Jesus, when…

…I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me… (Gal 2:19)

Such a soul cannot help but bring peace wherever they go. As St. Seraphim of Sarov said, “Acquire a peaceful spirit, and around you thousands will be saved.”

Peace is not merely the absence of war, and it is not limited to maintaining a balance of powers between adversaries… Peace is “the tranquillity of order.” Peace is the work of justice and the effect of charity. —Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 2304

Elizabeth experienced this “effect of grace” by the mere presence of Mary, because Our Lady was carrying into her midst the Prince of Peace. And thus, Elizabeth’s response applies to us as well:

Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled. (Luke 1:45)

Through our own “yes” to God in prayer and service to others, we too will be blessed, as our hearts are filled more and more with the love, light, and presence of God.

SUMMARY AND SCRIPTURE

When the two burners of love of God and love of neighbour are lit, we become as bright as a hot air balloon shining in the night sky.

For God is the one who, for his good purpose, works in you both to desire and to work. Do everything without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine like lights in the world. (Phil 2:13-15)

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