Choosing the Right Fire

by Carmelite Sisters | July 3, 2025 1:00 am

How radically different our lives would be if we fully opened ourselves to the purifying action of the Holy Spirit! What light we would radiate! How our hearts would burn within us!

A friend recently brought up an interesting concept. Are the fires of purgatory the Holy Spirit? If so, it would make that time of purgation much less intimidating! In the course of our brief conversation, I remembered something St. Therese had written, “So I, for my purgatory/Choose your burning love, O heart of my God!” Putting the two ideas together, the latter seemed to confirm the former. Our conversation then shifted slightly to the different kinds of fire. The fire of the love of God, the Holy Spirit, is a fire that purifies. It takes something and removes what is actually foreign to it, leaving it more authentic than before. But there is also a fire of evil that destroys and yet is unquenchable. It places things in a state of destruction but without annihilating them, which would be a relief.

My friend and I ended our conversation by marveling that anyone would choose the second kind of fire, but we do, don’t we? We are attracted by the promise of warmth and light and end up getting terribly burned. And the fire of the love of God? So often we view only the painful purgation it will entail and forget that this fire is the only one that will provide lasting warmth and light. How radically different our lives would be if we fully opened ourselves to the purifying action of the Holy Spirit! What light we would radiate! How our hearts would burn within us!

Sacred Heart of Jesus, burning with the Love of God, enkindle our hearts with the Flame of Your Spirit. Guard us from the destroying fire and use us to set the world ablaze!

Sister Mary Louise, O.C.D.
Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles

Image credit: Photo by Luke Porter[1] on Unsplash[2]

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This reflection appears here with the kind permission of the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles. To learn more about their community and work, read their biography below and visit their website[3].

We encourage you to support the work of the sisters with your prayers and through donations and planned giving. Click here[4] to learn more..

If you hear God calling you to the religious life, I encourage you to visit their vocations page[5]. – Deacon Mike

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Endnotes:
  1. Luke Porter: https://unsplash.com/@lukeporter?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash
  2. Unsplash: https://unsplash.com/photos/burning-firewood-at-night-TRys9NU8GiQ?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash
  3. website: https://carmelitesistersocd.com/
  4. here: https://carmelitesistersocd.com/support/
  5. vocations page: https://carmelitesistersocd.com/vocations/

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