When I was growing up, my dad was on the local volunteer fire department. He would always have to rush out at awkward times, often in the middle of the night to fires and auto accidents. One of the things the department would do from time to time were called ‘controlled burns’, where they would purposely burn down a building or an overgrown area of land and would have a few fire trucks and a crew there to keep the blaze under control. When I got older, we even had a controlled burn at our house to burn down our old barn that was falling apart. It was amazing to see the power of the fire as it consumed the old building.
Even around where I live now, the city conducted a controlled burn at a local park to burn off overgrown grassland so that it can thrive and renew itself, coming back stronger and more vibrant and healthy. And even in uncontrolled burns, such as a forest fire started by lightening or a campfire, or even in the events this past week at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, good can come out of the flames.
The forest grows back stronger, healthier, and more vibrant than before. The church is rebuilt, and improved, grander than before. We see this over and over. Things burn down, our lives are seemingly destroyed, but we come out of it. Stronger. Better than before. Renewed.
For forty days, we were in a controlled burn. Through our Lenten journey, we were cleansing ourselves, purging our worldly overgrowth that overshadows our soul. You might even say our Church as a whole is in a controlled burn right now, a burn that Christ Himself is overseeing, that once complete will clear out the overgrowth, the rot, and the decay from His Church so that a renewed version can sprout and flourish.
I have heard that over the centuries, this is how the faithful would see an event such as a church building burning – they would see it as a sign that the Church was in need of renewal.
This is the beauty of our faith, of the liturgical seasons, and especially the beauty of Easter. Easter is always a time of renewal in our lives – the renewal of our faith in Christ, reliving His Resurrection and the renewal of our spiritual lives. The burn has been extinguished, and it’s time for our new selves to sprout and reach forth to Heaven.
Lent is a controlled burn for our spiritual renewal. Jesus’ Passion was and is a controlled burn for our renewed salvation.
The trials in our lives, those infernos that seemingly rage out of control both literally and figuratively, they are in fact controlled and overseen by our Heavenly Father. He knows when to extinguish them. And He brings renewal and good out of the ashes, new growth, and a new and better you.
Perhaps you use these as a sign that things need to change, and you need to renew. Perhaps we look at Notre Dame as a sign that we need to renew our faith and Christs Church. We see the shell of the building, but its more than a shell. The foundation, the structure is there and it is solid. The building will come back stronger, and perhaps it will spark a renewal in our faith throughout the world.
And this is the beauty and genius of our Father and His Son throughout all of Holy Week and the Triduum – through the controlled burn of Christs Passion, the foundation was laid. The Institution of the Eucharist and His Resurrection from the dead is the structure, the very core of our faith.
This is what we believe. That He died for us, to make up for our sins and to save us from eternal damnation. And He is there, Present in the Eucharist, to renew and nourish us, and guide us through these controlled burns in our lives.
He and His Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church is bigger than any building, its bigger than any scandal, and it is bigger than death itself. And Jesus proves that today and every day. He’s got this, and everything is under control, though it may not appear that way. Faith in this fact leads to renewal, a better you, and eternal life.
Happy Easter!
