Go forth and set the world on fire? Pour the gasoline

Photo: Gerald Farinas.

When I was a student at Loyola, I heard the words of Saint Ignatius again and again, “Go forth and set the world on fire.”

Those words were not gentle. They were a challenge. They told us that our lives are not meant for comfort. They are meant for courage when the time comes.

The time is now.

Look around us today. Human dignity is being trampled. The promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is being suppressed. We are told to stay quiet. We are told to accept it. But we can’t.

To set the world on fire is not to destroy it. It’s to light it up with the Truth.

It’s to burn away the rot of injustice.

It’s to wake people up from indifference.

Bring out the gasoline cans! The fuel is persistence. The fire is refusal to give in to lies—HIS lies—fear, and hate.

Now is the time to torch stuff.

Now is the time to speak when others are silenced.

Now is the time to act when fear tells us not to.

Now is the time to love fiercely when hate wants to divide.

Saint Ignatius told us to go forth and set the world on fire.

Let’s answer him. Let’s be the flame. Let’s not wait for someone else to spark change.

Let it begin with us. Here. Now.