For the last several weeks, we’ve been hearing from the 12th chapter of Luke’s Gospel. In that chapter, Jesus is attracting huge crowds who are very interested to hear what he has to say. They take his teachings into their hearts, meditating upon his words. They want to learn and grow from his teachings. However, the scribes, temple officials, and Pharisees are also in the crowds. They are interested in what he says, but they want to criticize Jesus and make his life difficult. Today’s Gospel is just 5 short verses, but it certainly gives us a lot to think about. As disciples of Christ ourselves, we know Jesus as the Prince of Peace, the Son of God who proclaims God’s kingdom of justice and mercy. But, in today’s Gospel, Jesus says that he has come to set the earth on fire. Why would he say such a thing? He says that he has come to divide. Isn’t there enough division, turmoil, and discord in our world already? How could this be a part of Christ’s Good News?
I thought back to the spring before I left for my missionary work, back in 1992. I stayed with my dad in the Los Angeles area for a year just after my mom passed away, helping him get readjusted while I worked there for that year. He was suffering from the beginnings of Alzheimer’s disease at the time. On one April morning, I had a work meeting in downtown Los Angeles. As I was driving back that afternoon to Orange County, I was hearing news that an acquittal verdict had been reached for the police officers involved in the Rodney King case. There was a lot of tension in the city. When I arrived home, I walked in as my two sisters where glued to the TV set, seeing scenes of violence and looting as riots erupted all over Los Angeles, including the very area where I had been several hours earlier. It took many weeks for the anger and violence to start settling down. The division that Jesus talks about in today’s Gospel seemed to be playing out in the streets of southern California. We look at the world today, it seems even more divided and polarized. That can’t be what Jesus wants, can it?
Sometimes we have to confront the reality around us head on in order to address any problems or tensions that exist. That’s what Jesus is talking about when he says that he has come to create division, creating situations where even households are divided. We can take the easy way out in life and in our journey of faith, avoiding those things that are divisive and maintaining a faith that is insular and safe. We can want a faith that makes us feel good about ourselves, that comforts us and entertains us. But I don’t think that is the option Jesus wants us to take in our lives of faith. Jesus wants us to be bold in living out our faith, courageous in proclaiming our faith even when some may find that truth offensive or politically incorrect. Sure, we priests can get up here each weekend and preach a homily that makes you warm and comfortable inside, a homily that does not touch upon any controversial or complicated subjects. But truly, is Jesus, our Lord and Savior, wanting us to ignore the harsh realities that confront us as individuals and as a society? Is he wanting us to put our heads in the sand and not challenge the status quo or dialogue with the modern world? Think of those people in our Church and in our society who caused division while drawing attention in their society to God’s eternal truths. I think of St Teresa of Avila and St Francis of Assisi in the reform of the Church; Martin Luther King Jr in the civil rights movement; Oscar Romero and Dorothy Day and Mother Teresa in their service to the poor and the oppressed; Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela in speaking out against the discrimination and racism. All of these remarkable people of faith brought about division, controversy, and strong feelings by being prophets and righting wrongs. If we are going to follow Jesus in proclaiming his Gospel and living out our faith, perhaps some of our friends or family will think we have gone to far. They may become angry at us or deny that they know us. They may bad-mouth us. Sometimes we’ll cause division when we proclaim the truths of our faith and Christ’s unconditional love.
As disciples of Christ, we have God’s Kingdom proclaimed to us both as a gift and as a challenge. We are to perceive the world differently because of who we are as Christ’s disciples. When Christ’s peace is proclaimed to us, it is a peace that rests in our relationship with God, a peace that encourages us to stand up for justice and the truth. When I arrived in Jackson in my first assignment as a priest, several parishioners approached me about going with them to the abortion clinic on State Street just down the street from St Richard. We ended up going almost every week to pray the rosary in front of the clinic to be witnesses of the Gospel of Life that is a fundamental belief of our Catholic faith. It shocked me to see the anger and hatred that was directed to us as we prayed each week. I knew that not everyone would agree with our position, but I thought they would at least respect our freedom of speech. One Saturday morning, when I represented our diocese at an ecumenical prayer service in front of the clinic, we were harassed and shouted at by the police, as they threatened to tow away our cars or to arrest us if we violated any minor details of the permit we had to hold this public prayer service. Such treatment shocked me and spoke deeply to me. But Jesus’ proclamation in today’s Gospel is not to inspire fear in us. Boldly living out of faith is not to frighten us off. Rather, it is to inspire us to truly reflect upon what it means to be a disciple of Christ.
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