Fire and Division
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. During the Last Supper, Jesus explained to his Apostles: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid (John 14:27). And yet in today’s Gospel passage, Jesus said, do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. Is he contradicting himself? Not really.
The peace Jesus gives to his faithful followers is an interior peace, a deep and persistent sense of meaning and safety that comes from knowing that we are loved and valued by God, that we are on the right path in life, and moving in the right direction. That interior peace doesn’t preclude suffering of many kinds, including opposition from those who resent us for following Christ and thereby challenging their own assumptions about what is true, good, and beautiful. Jesus brings division because his Gospel requires a response; we cannot remain neutral in the face of the Gospel. We either accept it and try to shape our lives and our world in accord with it, or we reject it and try to shape our lives and our world in opposition to it. This is the battle constantly going on in history, the battle between good and evil. We can try to ignore it or sidestep it, but in the end, we all get swept up in it. What does that battle look like for me right now? 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!
When we ponder on the words from Jesus regarding His desire to “set the earth on fire,” we must first see this as His desire to purify our souls for fire both in Old and New Testament meant God's presence, his protection, his power and purification. Within our souls, there are many impurities that need to be removed if we are to become one with God, emitting His radiance and glory. This purification involves a process of allowing God to bring our sins to the surface so that they are seen and can be removed. But this is only possible if we allow the blazing fire of God’s purifying love to consume us.
And what division does Jesus bring? It is the division among the believers and followers of the Gospel and those who reject it. Jesus wants us to know ahead of time that if we choose to follow him there will be consequences. We will encounter opposition, perhaps even violent persecution, perhaps even from those closest to us. The history of the Church is full of examples of this. When St. Francis of Assisi followed his calling, his dad publicly disowned him. When St. Thomas Beckett faithfully defended the rights of the Gospel against political intrigue and corruption, his best friend turned on him and sparked his murder. The world in which we live is a fallen world, broken and twisted by sin. If we choose to walk the Christian path, we become living signs of contradiction, just as Christ himself did. Have I truly made that choice? Am I ready for the inevitable consequences? If not, I will be hard put to stay on the course; the shadow of the cross will surprise and disorient me instead of energizing me.
Reflect today on the fire and Division that Jesus brings. Have you allowed it to consume you? Don't also worry even when your family members hate you because of following the gospel. Your reward is abundant.
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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