Church Ignites Hearts

Often times, I will listen to a song and place it in a different context than it was originally written for. Sister Cristina, the nun who won the Voice Italy last year did this with most of the songs she performed. In her first blind audition, which was widely shared on social media, she sang No One by Alicia Keys. “You and me together through the days and nights I don't worry 'cause everything's gonna be alright.” She sang the words to God, her Father. Similarly, this often happens to me when I am listening to music. Recently, I have been listening to “Man on Fire” by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. It’s a beautiful song about a quiet, gentle, and wonderful man who just wants people to live happily with him. After I initially heard the song, I replayed it over and over again. I loved it. But, the more I listened, the more the lyrics resonated with me. I found a much deeper meaning in the song. In my mind, It wasn’t necessarily a specific “man” who was on fire, but a woman. The Catholic Church and her beautiful mission come to mind when I listen to this song.

I'm a man on fire
Walking through your street
With one guitar
and two dancing feet
Only one desire
That's left in me
I want the whole damn world to come dance with me

I imagined the famous Martyr, Archbishop Oscar Romero who championed the struggle for human rights during the El Salvadoran Civil War, when I heard these lines. I pictured him dancing through the streets with the people of El Salvador whom he loved so dearly and who loved him just the same. He, and the church, had one desire: for the dignity and rights of all people to be upheld. He wanted the whole world to dance with him in the struggle for human rights. He called on international leaders from all over to join. Especially calling the United States to cease their sale of weapons to the El Salvadoran military. He was on fire. On fire with the Gospel of love that his church was all about.

Over murder and pain come and set you free
Over heartache and shame,
I wanna see your bodies burning like old big sun
I wanna know what we've been learning and learning from
Everybody wants safety
Everybody wants comfort
Everybody wants certain
Everybody but me
I'm a man on fire

These words reminded me of St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta who gave up everything she had. She didn’t choose comfort, safety, or certainty. She gave up her name, her belongings, and her own will. She gave it all to God, and in doing so, she met Him in the poorest of the poor. She danced with them over murder and pain, heartache and shame. She saw their dignity, celebrated it, and called the whole world to join her. This ministry set the poor free, it set Teresa free, and the liberating love of God will set us all free. Her witness is shared with millions in the church who share her same love for the poor and marginalized.

Come dance with me.
Over heartache and rage
Come set us free
Over panic and strange
I wanna see your bodies burning like old big sun
I wanna know what we've been learning and learning from

The Catholic Filipino people in the 1980’s understood their Church’s call to nonviolence and human dignity. So they led their country, nonviolently, against an oppressive regime. They may not have “danced” necessarily. But they sat and prayed with their country over heartache and rage. When nuns prayed on their knees with guns pointed in their face, they knew what would set them free. The movement succeeded in overthrowing the oppressive regime of Ferdinand Marcos and restored the country’s democracy.

So many men and women who make up the Catholic Church have set the world ablaze with fire of justice and love. A fire that burns in the thousands of women religious who bring Christ to the most marginalized in our society. The fire burns from the intellect shared by Therese of Lisieux, Theresa of Avila, Catherine of Siena and Hildegard of Bingen, all Doctors of our Church. It burns in the jail cells of Sister Megan Rice, Greg Boertje-Obed, and Michael Walli, who were sentenced for shouting loudly God’s will to beat swords into plowshares and swords into pruning hooks. Sr. Helen Prejean fuels the fire through her ministry against the death penalty and the fire burns in the hundreds of thousands of people who will gather in Washington, D.C. this week to remember and advocate for the unborn.

Holy Mother Church truly is on fire and wants the whole world to come dance with her. Through heartache, through murder, through oppressive regimes and economic injustice, racism and poverty, the Church calls everyone to come dance with her in the truth that sets us free.