The Fire of Joy, Purification, and Torture

June is devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart is celebrated on the octave (eight day) of the Feast of Corpus Christi. This year this feast happens to fall on a first Friday, a day usually devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus throughout the year. The devotion to the Sacred Heart became universal following the visions of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647 - 1690). 

The most noticeable aspect of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is the fire which represents His burning love for all mankind. In fact, the representation of fire as God's love goes beyond symbolism. The actual love of God the Father and God the Son is showered upon human beings in the form of fire - the holy Spirit came upon the Apostles as tongues of fire. As we live in the Age of the Church which is guided by the Spirit of God, this fire is ever-present in our everyday life. 

Since God is love and since this love is expressed in the form of fire, it can also be argued that there is only one kind of fire in God. But depending on every person's and every soul's state of being, we all experience this fire differently. So for a person or soul who has submitted fully to the love of God, this is the fire of Joy. In this fire they find great comfort similar to what a child experiences in their mother's bosom. 

For many, the fire of love will be a purifying experience. "I will bring the one third through the fire; I will refine them as one refines silver, and I will test them as one tests gold" (Zechariah 13:9). The fires of purgatory is nothing but God's mercy and love for his people. There, the Lord uses his fire to strip the faithful of all impurities and to make them holy. Though painful, those who are going through this purge takes solace knowing that someday the fire will turn into a joyous one. 

Another way of experiencing the fire of God's love is the ever burning but never consuming fires of hell. Rather than destroying them, God's pure love has created a place for those who defy Him. This unimaginable love created hell for those who completely reject His love. The same fire that burns in the Sacred Heart of Jesus sets hell on fire also, but with much different results. When you despise His love and forever be cut off from it, the comforting and purifying love become torturous. While alive, there is no way for us to comprehend what it is like to have a life without the presence of God's love. God never takes His love away from us, thus always leaving the door open for us to return to Him. But if we choose to stay away from that love even at the time of our death, then He will simply grant our wish after death. The ultimate destination of every soul is to re-unite with the Creator. When a soul realizes that it has forever lost its chance for that re-union, then even the love becomes unbearable. It is an excruciating ordeal to know that you can never become a part of the fire that is all around you all the time, then it becomes tormenting.

So next time, in fact every time, we look at the Sacred Heart of Jesus, take a moment to reflect on our life in the light of that fire. Which fire are we preparing ourselves to receive - the soothing love of Joy, the painful love of purification, or the unattainable love that haunts and tortures?