Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10; Psalm 40; Hebrews 12:1-4; Luke 12:49-53
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Fr. Thomas Oyode
“Faith as an Experience of Death and Resurrection”
1.Jesus seems to come with a shocker this Sunday. If not, how does one understand his tone, “I do not come with peace” in a gospel such as Luke that we read today? Is this the same gospel that begins with an angelic proclamation of peace to all men of good will (Lk. 2:14)? Elsewhere, I had written that this announcement contra posed and transcended the Pax Romana that the Roman Empire had envisioned. In the same gospel of Luke Simeon would later say to Mary, “a sword will pierce your own soul, too” after declaring that the new-born will Christ is destined for the falling and rising of many in Israel (cf. Lk. 2:34-35). An understanding of this context is important. The phrase “a sword will pierce your own soul, too” is understood by some to refer to the pain that Mary would feel at the death of Jesus. For others like Raymond Brown, it also refers to Mary’s battles in responding to God’s will.
2.Against this backdrop, we begin to have a clearer understanding of why Jesus rather uses the term “division” as an antonym for “peace”. Why did he not use “war” or “conflict”? It is because he wants us to understand that what he brings is the internal division that tends to drag us from within like a sword piercing through the heart; that inner conflict between good and evil. It is the inner struggle to either stand for justice and peace or stand aloof and watch while oppression and injustice holds sway. Nevertheless, the conflict can also be external. It can be external when inordinate affection and the attraction of the material world pulls us away from God. It can be external when we find ourselves divided between public opinion, the temptation to join the crowd and the need to stand with God even if we are standing alone. This point notably connects with the words of the Second Reading, “let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings closely and let us run with perseverance…” (Hebrews 12:1). We would not be able to stand firm (let alone run) and hold on to the ways of truth and justice if we are overweighed or obese. Whatever drags us down or away from God and His ways causes division and conflict within us and among us. That thing has a name and it is sin. Sin prevents us from sprinting along with God and each of us has “the sin” that is particular to us that we must battle against.
3.Precisely for this reason, in today’s gospel (Luke 12:49-53), Jesus speaks of a baptism that he must undergo and a fire to be cast upon the world. What do these symbols bring to our minds? They remind us that faith has the power to transform the world and renew it. Fire consumes but it also brings about renewal and we see the impact of wild fires on the regeneration of the ecosystem in some places where these have taken place. It is not difficult to understand, therefore, that while Jesus makes reference to his death on the cross, he wants us to understand that this death will make the hearts of all men and women to burn with the fire of love, that very divine love that regenerates, recreates the earth and gives life to it. We have been called, chosen and baptised to bear this fire of life. This is why our faith is a participation in the death and resurrection of Christ expressed in our readiness to stand for God, His truth and His justice even if it will cost us our popularity.
4.Are we, then, still wondering why the author of the Letter to the Hebrews says that we have many witnesses? Christ himself is our First Witness and Example. However, we must not overlook the example of Jeremiah and Ebed-Melech who were ready to stand for the truth at the cost of being cast away. Ebed-Melech, in particular, could have continued enjoying his privileges in the king’s palace without bothering about speaking against the injustice meted on Jeremiah but he chose to risk his privilege. He challenges us to learn to place the common good above private individual good, to place national interest over and above individual political ambitions. He learnt to die to his selfish privileges and comforts in order that he may give life to a brother, an innocent prophet. This is how faith is exercised; a death to self so that Christ may reign.
May God’s grace strengthen the faith of every man and woman of good will who toil in perseverance that justice may reign, that oppression may seize and all may live in liberty. May they not labour in vain. Amen.
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Fr. Daniel Evbotokhai
CHRIST’S FIRE AND DIVISION
Christ says “I has come to cast fire upon the earth and would that it were already kindled” (Luke 12:49). Again, he says; “I have not come to bring peace but division.” By common agreement, this is unlike Christ and from what we have known form the Scriptures; Jesus Christ is the “Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6); His gospel is “the gospel of peace” (Eph. 6:15); He is the Lamb of God (John.1:29); He prayed that we may be one (John 17:21). Why is Christ making allusion to fire and division? Has Christ changed?
Jesus Christ has not changed, when he spoke of fire and division he was not speaking prescriptively but descriptively. That is, he is not prescribing or decreeing that there should be divisions and war on earth. Rather he was describing what will happen in the world if we follow him. If Jesus had not come the world would have gone uninterrupted in its sin and moral judgments would have been irrelevant. On the contrary, Christ’s advent brought light – the Light that scatters darkness. The Gospel is now an instant reminder and an alarm for salvation; setting man’s conscience on Christ’s fire. Let us approach this topic from three dimensions:
Christ’s fire as Spiritual Enthusiasm: This is a kind fire that counterbalances indifference, apathy and boredom – three common blocks to spiritual life and agility. A life that is clouded by spiritual laziness finds the Mass and spiritual activities boring. Continuous lack of spiritual enthusiasm brings about spiritual death. We need the fire of spiritual enthusiasm to progress and sustain our spiritual lives. In Luke 24:32 this was the kind of fire that was burning in the hearts of the disciples; while the Lord spoke to them on their way to Emmaus that led back to Jerusalem.
Christ detests lukewarmness, Rev.3:16 says; “because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot. I will spew out of my mouth.” Most times what we spew out from our mouth is not the saliva that is hot or cold but the one that we find lukewarm that is, irritating. Lukewarmness is irritating. A church that is lukewarm is not on fire. Everyone is indifferent, unenthusiastic, unguarded and extremely lethargic or sleepy; laying comatose, torpid and tepid at the watch of darkness.
The second reading exhorts us saying; do not grow weary or become fainthearted and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us. Have we gone weary or tired? Why the boredom? At the transfiguration, Peter said, it is good for us to be here. That statement was born out of spiritual enthusiasm. How many of us can rightly say it is good for us to be here? We often itch to close or fry other fishes. Some persons are fed up, in the Church, they are in a hurry, yet after closing they hang around the Church premises for long pleasantries. At club meetings, these same persons can afford to spend the whole day. May the Holy Spirit revive our drooping spirit with a fervent spiritual interest.
2.Christ’s Division as True Peace: A preacher once said that “the way to true peace is not always peaceful”. True peace is more than freedom from disturbance; experience of tranquility or the absence of hostility. True peace is a life that is built on goodness, honesty and justice. Msgr. John K Aniagwu quoted M.K.O Abiola in his Book “Breaking the Word” that Peace without justice is the “peace of the graveyard” the graveyard is peaceful because all the inhabitants are dead. But we are not dead so if we must have peace we must oppose lies, injustice and evil.
Thus, keeping the peace is different from serving the peace. To keep the peace is to maintain the status quo, never upset anyone and always afraid to rock the boat, never confront a family member about his bad habits. A wife who is keeping the peace will never tell her husband that he has done something bad and he needs to change. She will continue to tolerate until the doom of the man or the family. Such approach entertains the lies, injustice and evil that are present among us.
Typical catholic image of Madonna with the child printed in Germany from the end of 19. cent. originally designed by unknown artist and taken in village Sebechleby in middle Slovakia.
On the other hand, we are called to serve the peace, this does not suggest the outright provocation of a neighbour but the sincere opposition of evil and injustice. We serve the peace by speaking the truth in our families, workplaces, or in the church even if it risks division. That division becomes a necessary division; for light cannot accommodate darkness. Where light shines, darkness disappears. We cannot tolerate evil or compromise Christ’s message to maintain peace. Such peace is pseudo and would be counterproductive. Some people are still friends today because they are not telling themselves the truth about themselves. Correct a neighbour today and he becomes your enemy. Serve the peace regardless of fear or favour.
3.Christ’s Division set us Apart: Christ says; “I have not come to bring peace but division.” Christ’s division sets us apart. Anyone who embraces Christ in Baptism is set apart, 1Peter 2:9 says we a peculiar people, a people set apart. We have been set apart not to fall apart but to make impact. Children of light are necessarily divided from the world. This is a necessary division. The Bible says we are in the world but not of the world (John 15:19).
Again, once you are set apart you have become a prophet to your generation. But for that very fact, hostilities and persecutions will come. Jeremiah in the first reading was a prophet in his time and he suffered the cost of such great task. Many men who have been set apart have fallen apart because they lack the Jeremiah kind of Spirit. We need men that will not compromise the truth in the face of persecutions and afflictions. Men who can truly endure pains and rejection in order to uninstall evil.
LET US PRAY
O God, who have prepared for those who love you good things which no eye can see, fill our hearts, we pray, with the warmth of your love, so that, loving you in all things and above all things, we may attain your promises, which surpass every human desire. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. AMEN.
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Rev. Fr. Stephen Udechukwu
It is better to be a contradiction than to miss heaven
Christianity if understood and practiced well can be difficult and even contradicting to the world. Contradicting because the teachings of Jesus himself seem to be impossible and against what a normal human being can ordinarily do. Take for instance Jesus says in Luke 6:29 “if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the left”. In Matthew 5:44 he says “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” and many other teachings of Jesus which look so contradicting and impractical.
Now we have another disturbing passage in our gospel reading today. Before the birth of Jesus there were many prophecies among which is the prophecy made by Isaiah in Isaiah 9:6 when he said “for unto us a child is born, to us a son is given…and he will be called, wonderful counselor, mighty God, Everlasting Father, prince of peace”. And then when this same Jesus eventually came, the announcement of his birth to the shepherds of Bethlehem by the angel came in Luke 2:14 with the announcement of peace “Glory to God in the highest and peace to men of good will”. It therefore becomes more confusing how the same Jesus everyone sees as prince of peace; one whose birth was prophesied to be king of peace now comes up to say “I came to cast fire upon the earth” and then as if that was not enough he says “do you think I have come to bring peace on earth? No. I tell you but rather division…” One may then be forced to ask if the prophecies of Isaiah were all lies and that of the angels? Is the bible contradicting itself? The answer can be YES and NO. YES for one who fails to understand the paradoxical terms used by Jesus and who reads the verses of the bible individually and not as a whole; one whose understanding of the bible is one sided? NO for one who really understands the paradox of Jesus and who makes use of what Pope Benedict calls canonical exegesis.
Now Jesus says “I have come to cast fire on earth”. Fire mostly is used to signify purification. It is a great way of purifying things. In fact one of the symbols of the Holy Spirit is fire because the Holy Spirit is a God of purification hence the tongue of flame that rested upon the apostles in Acts 2:1-4. Again Zechariah 13:9 says that God will purify “one third of the people in fire as silver is refined…” the book of Malachi 3:3 talks about the Messiah as a refiner who will refine the sons of Levi. In Isaiah 6:6-7 when God called Isaiah to the ministry of prophecy, Isaiah declined because he felt he was a man of an unclean lips but God purified his lips with fire. Fire too can represent the presence of God as we have in Exodus 13:17-22 God led the people of Israel by night with the pillar of fire. While Deuteronomy 4:24 says that “the Lord your God is a consuming fire”. Hence when Jesus says “I have come to cast fire on earth” we must understand that the fire he talks about is a purifying fire. Thus Jesus is saying in other words that he has come to purify the earth from its impurity; he has come to refine the world. He has come to lead men of this earth to the truth through the pillar of fire; he is the light through which the world can see; he is the light who has come to enlighten the world.
Again Jesus says he has come to bring division on earth rather than peace. What does a man who constantly preaches peace mean by this? The words of Jesus sometimes must not be taken literally. By this saying, Jesus prepares us for what we may likely face when we totally accept him. We have a good example of the message Jesus is passing to us in the first reading. The people of Judah under a series of irreligious kings had gradually fallen away from God and even from their religion. They had the ambition to retain political freedom and economic prosperity and to do this they forgot the Lord their God and sought alliance with Egypt. Jeremiah therefore a true prophet of God decided to stay with a true God and so consistently preached against the people of Judah but instead of them listening to Jeremiah, they maltreated him. In fact the imprisonment mentioned in our first reading was supposed to be his death sentence but Ebedmelech decided to intervene. Therefore when Jesus talks about division in the family, he is saying that in a family where one person accepts Jesus and others does not, such individuals should expect similar treatment given to Jeremiah. Jesus wants us to note that people will hate us for being Christians; people will call us names. Today many Christians are afraid of living up to their Christian values and standard because of fear of what people will say or do to them; they are afraid of being different. If only all Christians can live their Christian life in its totality I believe our world would have been a better place but because people are afraid of divisions and insults Christians are living double lives.
The division that happens when you stand for your Christian values and truth can only make you stronger. There was a time that Catholic Church was the only Church on earth but along the line division came and Catholic Church stood its ground on its true values and that is what has made the Church even stronger today. Come to think of it, is it not better to be a contradiction to the world and make heaven than to align with the world and lose heaven?.
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Rev. Fr. Evaristus Okeke
JUDGMENT OF THE TRUTH
In today’s gospel, Jesus reveals that division is part and parcel of his ministry. He goes further to elucidate on the depth of the division. It is not just a division across nationalities or races but one that delves too into family line. What a seemingly contradiction made by the very one who is himself the Prince of Peace! This is no contradiction but a fuller explication on Jesus’ mission. Jesus remains the Prince of Peace. This peace is not just one of co-existence but one that is built on justice. Without Justice, there is no true peace. A peace that is devoid of justice is what Late M.K.O Abiola referred to as “the Peace of the grave yard”. In the grave yard, there is absolute peace but all the inhabitants are dead. Thus, today’s gospel actually speaks of the judgment of God that is necessary for authentic peace.
Another fact we learn from today’s gospel is that the first and the second coming of Christ are not entirely different from each other but are like the two sides of a coin. Sometimes, Jesus’ first coming is interpreted as a mission to save while the second coming is interpreted as a mission to judge. Well, when Jesus was saving at his first coming, he was also judging and when he will come to judge the world at his second coming, he will also be saving. Hence, judgment is always connected to the action of Jesus. To judge is to know the difference between what is right and what is wrong and be able to do and say it.
In the gospel, Jesus is not saying that until we are divided in our homes, we are not yet his followers; rather, he is saying that every disciple of his that wants to be worthy of the name but be ready to put him (Christ) before any other person or thing. This would further mean that the disciple is ready to bear whatever difficulty that may arise from this firm decision. For example, if a Catholic decides to marry a non-Catholic, the Catholic party must be ready to maintain his or her faith. It will be wrong for the Catholic party to go with the non-Catholic party to his or her place of worship because they feel that it is inconvenient for married couples to attend different places of worship. If you must remain Jesus’ authentic disciple, you must be ready to bear that inconvenience.
In the first reading, judgment is identified with the ministry of Jeremiah. He tells the people that the king of Babylon will overthrow the city. Jeremiah says this not because he feels so but because he has heard from God and has been asked to speak it out. For this reason, he was hated and thrown into a cistern. God was the author of the message; Jeremiah is only a messenger. This means that when we decide to stand firm with Christ, we shall experience suffering on account of the division that accompanies our prophetic ministry.
Jesus has not come to bargain with the world; he does not enter into contract with the devil. Because he is God, he comes to overthrow evil and reinstate peace. If we dread the revolution of the truth, we will not be able to establish God’s kingdom here on earth. The second reading tells us that the revolution of the truth must begin with the self. Only him/her who has been purified by the truth will be able to purify the world. The reason we have more persons who identify problems than those who solve them is that only very few persons honestly admit that they themselves are part of the problem. Therefore, the solution begins from working on the self. Tell yourself the truth, so that you can tell others the truth too.
The kind of division that accompanies the truth is not one that heads towards destruction because “Jesus is in the boat”. When we are afflicted on every side for standing for and speaking the truth, we are never alone. Jesus is with us. In the first reading, this restoration was exemplified when the king ordered Ebed-melech to take three men with him and draw Jeremiah out of the cistern so that he does not die there. The psalmist today, sings of God’s restoration for his chosen one.
Beloved, the fear of deprivation that retards you from identifying with the truth is a False Evidence Appearing Real. It is never really actualized because one with God remains majority. *God Bless You!*
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Fr. Paul Oredipe
Fire of God’s love
The central theme of today’s readings is that we should courageously live out our religious convictions and principles in our lives, as Jeremiah, Paul and Jesus did theirs, even if doing so should result in our martyrdom and turn society upside down. Today’s Scripture challenges us to confront the world with prophetic courage of our Christian convictions.
We all know what fire is and are well aware of its effect. Sometimes it spreads rapidly, ravaging and destroying everything in its wake. Some forest fires and urban fires are real catastrophes. But when fire is controlled, its destructive effects become a beneficial and purifying thing. Fire, again under control, provides us with heat, giving warmth and comfort, light and food.
The faithful Israelites of the Old Testament were of course familiar with fire. Very quickly it became an important religious symbol for them. In the beginning, the sacrifices offered to God were animals burnt as holocausts. Then fire came to signify the spiritualization of man’s offering and its acceptance by God; it symbolised man’s thrust towards his God. Still later fire became God’s intervention in human existence. Ultimately fire came to designate God himself. The Scriptural authors will not hesitate to say that God is a devouring fire.
Jesus inherits that whole tradition. So when He says that he came to bring fire to the earth, He meant that He has come to kindle the fire of God’s love and truth among human beings. In the Song of Songs 8:7 we read: “Love is a fire no waters avail to quench, no floods to drown; for love, a man will give up all that he has in the world, and think nothing of his loss”.
The presence of the living God is a fire which simultaneously gives light and destroys impurities. It refines man and liberates him from his incapability of loving. It is that fire that Jesus brings. It is the very energy of God which brings creation to its fulfilment by leading it through death to the full liberty and power of spiritual love.
On the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit came down upon the Apostles in the form of tongues of fire, to purify their hearts and strengthen their will thereby preparing them for the mission of extending the kingdom of Christ throughout the world. If that indeed is the fire that Jesus brings, then we can understand his cry of impatience. “There is a baptism I must still receive, and how great is my distress till it is over”.
When Jesus came into this world, He was not welcome (John 1:12) because He taught a new way of living and looking at the world which involved turning away from sin and selfishness, and living for God. This way of life taught by Jesus does not come easy without cost. It involves rejecting many of the values that our society holds dear but are opposed to God. This way of living, Jesus warns his disciples, will result in being rejected by others, including close friends and even family members.
When Jesus said He has not come to bring peace, He is referring to the peace that was invoke then in his time; the peace that was the product of war and compromise; where injustice and oppression prevailed. As a matter of fact, Jesus is not opposed to peace. Instead, Jesus is the prince of peace. He came to establish peace that comes from forgiveness. This is the kind He wished his disciples when He told them: Peace I leave you, my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you” (John 14:27).
On the other hand, when He said that He had come to bring division, He was talking about the division that his message would bring between those who accept it and those who reject it; between the righteous and unrighteous. As a result of this division: “Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death.” By this He indicates that the message would divide families between those who would accept the message and those who would reject it.
Rather than advocating violence, Jesus was warning his disciples that they would encounter violence from those unwilling to accept the Truth. The interpretation that the truth will cause division between those who accept it and those who do not is reflected in the gospel of John: “He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not. He came to his own home, and his own people received him not. But to all those received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God” (John 1:10-13).
Therefore, the holy war to which Christ calls us, is not a war against people of certain nationalities or cultures, creeds or ideologies, but a war in which we first have to identify the forces for evil in our own persons and in the persons of those who are dear to us (father, son, mother, daughter, mother-in-law, daughter-in-law) and then declare an uncompromising war against these forces. In so doing, Jesus redefines family as those who follow the same divine purpose and no longer those who share the same name or address.
The challenge before us today is to take the side of Christ, and be men and women of principle, even if doing so will divide us from our kith and kin, our father or mother, our brother or sister, our brother-in-law or sister-in-law, our townsmen or our tribesmen. This is what Jesus meant when he said: “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters”.
As disciples our commitment is to follow Jesus and to enter fully into his struggle to repair the world, and to restore ourselves and others to right relationships. The cost of this for some will mean changing their work or losing their job. For others, it will mean challenging or even changing their personal relationships, or travelling more lightly, or blooming more fully right where they are planted. This commitment has its costs in some form or another in each person’s journey of discipleship and its rewards are not always obvious.
Our readings today say that our highest priority should be our relationship with God and God’s purpose, thus making all other relationships with people and things secondary.
Christ foresaw this: ‘A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me they will persecute you too’ (John 15:20). It happened to Jeremiah, clearly illustrated for us in today’s first reading. In the end of course, the innocent prophet is saved. Paul, too, preached a message that divided him from those who heard the message of Jesus. He caused a division so deep that he was martyred … he lost his life. No matter our age, teen agers, young adults, middle aged or older, our modern society exposes us to more temptations and a greater opportunity to “divide” themselves from Jesus than did the societies we hear about in today’s readings.
We now see that the prophecy of Jesus, which seemed difficult to understand and almost scandalous, can offer us comfort and encouragement.
The fire of Christ is burning today in our age more fiercely than ever before. Everyone is being put to the test. We know that well enough. No less true today is the saying that “the seed of faith is nourished by the blood of martyrs.” The lives of these martyrs remind us, they inspire and encourage us to allow the fire of God’s love and truth to continually transform and renew us. That fire destroys, we admit. But if we are wise and faithful enough to accept it, the destruction can be a purification that fashions a new creature in the image of Christ.
Christ’s baptism (which He spoke about in the Gospel today) took place at the time of his resurrection. Ours is taking place too, perhaps more truly now, in this trying times than in times that seemed to be more peaceful. Opposition and indifference from the world, from our own people, even from friends and family, from hostile forces, tests our loyalty daily. Fixing our eyes constantly on Jesus we acknowledge our exemplar and model.
The author of the letter to the Hebrews (our 2nd Reading today) talks about the cloud of witnesses that surround us and that should stimulate fidelity to the faith in us. Then he urges us to fix our eyes on Jesus: “… he endured the cross, disregarding the shamefulness of it, and from now on has taken his place at the right of God’s throne.” He proposes Jesus to us as a model, and he invites us to follow him on the same road. Then he makes a disturbing point: “In the fight against sin, you have not yet had to keep fighting to the point of death.”
We all must examine our lives in the spirit of today’s gospel and ask, “Am I dividing myself from God’s word?” It may be actions we take or times when we do not act in charity, love of others less fortunate or we miss opportunities to be a model for others around us. But most of all, we must realize the words of Jesus apply to each of us. He came to “divide” us from the sins of the world. He came to teach us the discipline we need to follow his teachings.
It is our responsibility and we must strive to follow His lead every day of our lives. If we do not succeed we could suffer the worst “division” possible. Our “division” from eternal salvation. Think about it.
The true disciple never gives up, never loses sight of Calvary’s desolation or of Easter’s glory. We have many witnesses in a great cloud on every side of us for our encouragement. God forbid that we should ever give up for want of courage.
We pray: Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful: And enkindle in them the fire of your love.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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Fr. Daniel Evbotokhai is a priest of the Catholic Diocese of Auchi, Edo State, Nigeria. He was ordained October 20th, 2018. He offers his daily homilies, talks and articles that bother on, faith, theology, morals and many other burning issues in religion and politics. Fr. Daniel writes poems, inspirational quotes and clips.
4.Are we, then, still wondering why the author of the Letter to the Hebrews says that we have many witnesses? Christ himself is our First Witness and Example. However, we must not overlook the example of Jeremiah and Ebed-Melech who were ready to stand for the truth at the cost of being cast away. Ebed-Melech, in particular, could have continued enjoying his privileges in the king’s palace without bothering about speaking against the injustice meted on Jeremiah but he chose to risk his privilege. He challenges us to learn to place the common good above private individual good, to place national interest over and above individual political ambitions. He learnt to die to his selfish privileges and comforts in order that he may give life to a brother, an innocent prophet. This is how faith is exercised; a death to self so that Christ may reign.
