I have come to light fires

and I very much desire to burn

inside you, my friends,

and in the whole world.

A fire to purify your consciences,

to heat up cold entrails,

to cauterize wounds,

to burn up the loads imposed,

to light up the dark areas,

to set fire to all the barriers,

to cleanse your belongings

and to turn your hearts into red hot coals.

Set us alight, Lord, with your fire!

A fire to calcine the ropes that bind you

and leave you in liberty on this earth;

to infuse in you the heat of life

and mould your dreams and utopia;

to reduce the walls to ashes

and be reborn with their vigour;

to set alight your entrails

and make you a showpiece of my good news.

Set us alight, Lord, with your fire!

A fire to inflame a smoking fuse

and the embers of every good work;

which brightens the ways and paths

and make them shine with your presence;

that gives heat to the world

and makes the Church lustrous and attractive;

that burns up evil and lies

and gives flames to justice.

Set us alight, Lord, with your fire!

My fire is flame and bonfire

on hilltops, valleys and meadows;

an oven and brazier for meetings,

discussion groups, suppers and welcomes;

a lantern and lighthouse at all times

for those who go wandering;

a paschal candle both without and within,

free, unpriced and without owner.

Set us alight, Lord, with your fire!

My fire burns without being consumed,

it's a thornbush in the desert and silence,

it's the Spìrit open to all the winds;

it boosts all loss of valour,

it infuses energy into those who have lost heart,

and comforts those strained with efforts;

my fire is baptism of life,

a love that sets alight and excites love.

Set us alight, Lord, with your fire!

And, you, I send you to be fire:

an inner burning and a raised torch;

bonfire, oven and brazier,

a fearless uncontrollable mass of flames,

volcano, lightning, conflagration,

lighthouse in this stormy world

and wax of my own body.

Set us alight, Lord, with your fire!

Draw near to me,

jump over the bonfire,

walk on the coals,

burn and set fire,

shine, fill with light,

cauterise wounds...

Heat the world up!

Set alight the good news!

Set us alight, Lord, with your fire!