The gospel for today is a bit hard to take and embrace. Is this the Jesus of love and unity that we all expect? He tells us today, "Do you think that I have come to establish peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division." (Luke 12:51) Our Lord goes on to talk about divisions between Father and Son, Mother and daughter, family member against family member. It sounds shocking to us that faith in Christ should separate parents from children and split families apart. These words of Christ describe the very real experience of the first Christians, where conversion to Christ tore families apart. Back then, becoming a Christian was a dramatic step. In those days there was no "safety net" as we call it today. The family was the safety net. So, to become Christian meant embracing a way of life that separated you from your family and giving up, in effect, the equivalent of a pension, health insurance, social security, EVERYTHING.
Yet this experience still happens today. If you're a member of an Evangelical, Orthodox Jewish, Mormon, or a Muslim family today, and you choose to become Catholic, you are shunned from the family. Even today, when many people tend to take their religion lightly, serious loyalty to Christ makes them uneasy if not hostile.
In today's Gospel we see another side of Jesus, not a peaceful shepherd but the Christ of fire and flame. When Jesus says that He came to light a fire on the earth, He wasn't talking about forest fires or wild fires. The fire of Christ is the fire of conviction, of commitment.
Do we have the conviction about the Lord like Jeremiah, in today's first reading, who opposed the sins of a whole nation and suffered persecution, or like our predecessors in faith that the Letter of to the Hebrews describes who lived by conviction, all the old Testament saints whose pictures are in churches and prayer books, the cloud of New Testament witnesses whose loyalty to Jesus Christ shaped their life? How deep is our conviction in Jesus Christ?
It seems that in today's society, there are more people committed to a football, basketball, or baseball team than to Christ. They do not hesitate to wear team jerseys and insignia while hesitating to wear a cross. They spend more on a season ticket than they do on Church donations. Who's more important to you: the Yankees (or Mets) or Jesus Christ?
The fire Jesus wants is the fire of loyalty and commitment because Jesus did not come to bring an easy peace by sweeping problems under the rug and having us look the other way. He came to bring a spiritual fire, a holy fire, to undo the power of evil in our world and in our selves and to remake the earth in every generation. By Baptism, we are called to join that campaign.
We do this by sharing our faith with our children and our families. We do it by sharing the truth of the Gospel with the people with whom we live and work.We can do it by insisting on honesty and fairness in business, politics, and government.
There is also a personal side to this campaign too. The fire of faith and conviction gives our life energy, direction and definition. Because society's values are confused, ours do not have to be. Because our culture is morally adrift, we do not have to be. We need to be strong in our commitment to following the commandments of God in our life.
This Gospel for today broadens our view of Christ. From Jesus Christ as Prince of Peace, which is true, to the Christ of fire and flame Who lit a blaze that lights the way for human dignity, repentance, the sacredness of life, a sense of sin burns away evil and deception to clear the way for grace and truth.
Let the fire of your faith in Christ, your conviction about the Lord, clarify your life and light the way for others.
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