When we think of Jesus, division and conflict are not usually the first things that come to mind. Rather, we think more of a message of peace, love, and healing to all of us who are so much in need because of our brokenness. Yet, in todays Gospel the message sounds very different, and for good reason, because our Lord seeks to guard us from the dangers of a lack of commitment, and a “lukewarm” faith which can so easily occur when we don’t have a firm commitment to Christ.
Whenever I hear this Gospel, the first thing that springs to mind is the sacrifice and conflict that so many of the people who come to our OCIA classes experience because they want to truly embrace Jesus’ message through the fullness of truth found in the Catholic Church. They come from many different backgrounds – some Protestant, some from other faiths, some from environments where they were never part of any faith oriented beliefs at all. Yet in all of these instances, they risk not just a new way of thinking for themselves that they must come to terms with, but also the possible lack of acceptance, if not outright rejection that sometimes can come from friends and family members. They risk so much, all in the name of drawing closer to Jesus. Yet, this is exactly what Jesus is talking about in todays Gospel, it is in fact what we are all called to do, especially as Catholics. We are called to fully embrace His teaching, and to still proclaim His message to those who will sometimes reject it and potentially reject us as well.
It’s not an easy thing to say the truth, and yet that was Jesus’ purpose, to open the eyes of ALL to the truth. He did this in His teaching, in the way He lived, and ultimately in the way He suffered, and died for our sake. There was a fire within Him that consumed all things that would distract Him from this purpose, and He wills the same fire to be within each of us. The prophet Jeremiah experienced this same fire and endured being lowered into the cistern by those who could not bear to hear his words. Saint Paul in his letter to the Hebrews calls them, and us, to rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us (meaning all the things that distract us from Christ, because those are true burdens to us).
The reality is simply this, if our Lord was willing to endure his passion and death for our sake, all of which came about because of the adherence to the truth which He lived out, then He has every right to expect the same of us. We are not called to be comfortable, we are in fact called to set fire to those comforts that distract us, let them burn to ash, and then sweep them from our minds and hearts. Only then can we fully embrace our mission and live out and evangelize Christs message of truth. The cost is steep, but the rewards are beyond our imagining. Strike the spark and let it begin.
The Deacons Bench 