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.