Ephesians 3 :14-21,
Psalm 33 : I-2.4—5.11- 12.18-19,
Luke 12:49-53 Full Readings
Saint John Paul IIThe Effect of the Gospel
Today's Gospel is quite shocking. How can Jesus who is the prince of peace, a spear header of unity among the people, say that he didn't come to bring peace on earth but fire and division among families. And without apology! He doesn't even say ‘I am afraid there may sometimes be disagreements in the family’. Rather, ‘I have come to bring disagreements in the family’. To make things worse, in Judaism the family is the basic unit which sticks together through thick and thin.
Any Jew will be thoroughly shocked by this passage. We have seen repeatedly that Jesus’ statements are often fierce and extreme: ‘if your hand causes you to fall, cut it off’; ‘let the dead bury their dead’. Elsewhere he says ‘it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.’ Jesus is teaching that the most sacred earthly ties are less important than loyalty to him. He chooses the family deliberately because it is so sacred and important, but even so, less important than following him.
As we approach the end of the collection of instructions for the mission of his disciples after his own departure, Jesus leaves his hearers in no doubt that, important as family unity is, it will on occasion be shattered by a division in loyalty to Christ. How much more must we be prepared to give up our own bad habits and evasions and jealousies and hypocrisies to be true followers of Christ!
All these show the effect of the Gospel. The word of God is very sharp it cuts more finely than a double edged sword. Jesus knew that some will accept the Gospel and others will not and so there will be division among the people. The image of a family shows how deep the Gospel will enter the lives of people even up to the loved ones. Those who accept the Gospel and are loyal to Jesus will remain united and those who will reject the will disintegrate.
Loyalty unites - division separates. Why did Jesus link fire from heaven with costly division on the earth? Did he expect his followers to take his statement of "father against son and son against father" and "mother against daughter and daughter against mother" literally? Or was he intentionally using a figure of speech to emphasize the choice and cost of following him above all else? Jesus used a typical Hebrew hyperbole (a figure of speech which uses strong language and exaggeration for emphasis) to drive home an important lesson. We often do the same when we want to emphasize something very strongly. Jesus' hyperbole, however, did contain a real warning that the Gospel message does have serious consequences for our lives.
Reflect today on where your loyalty lies. Where is your priority, to God or to worldly ties? Pray for the Holy Spirit, as St Paul prays for us in the first reading, that He can permeate our hearts to follow Jesus more closely and be loyal to him.
Let us Pray
Out of his infinite glory, may God give us the power through his Spirit for our hidden self to grow strong, so that Christ may live in our hearts through faith, and then, planted in love and built on love, we will with all the saints have strength to grasp the breadth and the length, the height and the depth; until, knowing the love of Christ, which is beyond all knowledge, we are filled with the utter fullness of God. (Prayer of St Paul)
Be blessed
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