TWENTIETH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR "C"

Cycle “C”: Luke 12, 49-53

“Do you suppose that I am here to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.” “A daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”

So, there you are, my friends: Jesus gives you a handle to treat your in-laws like outlaws!

The Gospel of today sounds like a declaration of war. When Jesus was born, he was hailed as the Prince of Peace; but now he declares division and conflict. Those who seek to follow Jesus soon learn that his path is not a way of escape from the world. The Gospel is not a recipe for relaxation. His disciples soon realised that they would face danger and persecution. Clearly it is not “a peace at all costs” that he proclaims. With higher values at stake, conflict becomes an integral part of Christian life and witness. To follow Jesus is to swim against the tide of the world. It can mean facing opposition; division even in the family. The great prophet Jeremiah had already witnessed this. He was attacked and ill-treated and dragged to the brink of death for proclaiming in God’s name a message that rocked the boat.

We may have lost a sense of the danger involved in following Jesus. Many people assume that as we follow Jesus, the journey of faith will be serene and untroubled. It’s the sort of comment that we hear not infrequently: “I envy you your faith, it must give you such peace...” If they only knew! Day after day we hear of attacks and assaults on our priests, sisters and lay folk, church buildings and property. In certain parts of our country it is dangerous to be a Christian, even life-threatening. The opposition we face in West Bengal may be more subtle.

Are we willing to stand up for our faith in the face of opposition? Do we let work colleagues and acquaintances know that we take our faith seriously? Do we boldly say that we go for Sunday Mass? It’s a question that is very hard for some, especially our young people to face. We must continue praying for zeal. Zeal is the thirst for God within us, bringing out the best in us: character, initiative, faithfulness. As the proverb says, “He who has no fire in himself cannot warm others.” If a man stands up and cheers for a football team in a stadium, he is called a “fan.” But if he stands and cheers with conviction for the cause of Jesus Christ, he is called a “fanatic.”

Science and technology are making life easier for us. So, what is more natural than to swear allegiance to a counterfeit Jesus? A Christ who gives us comfort and but demands little in return. A Teacher who sends us Hallmark cards but never pulls us up for sins. A Master who is always swooping down to pick us up and never asks us to do the same for our suffering neighbour. Could it be that our watered down Christianity has made us boring and uninspiring to the non-Christians, and responsible for the lack of vocations? The author James Carrol put it so disturbingly: “we want to get the prophet out of our city, so we can honour him. Or on to the cross, so we can love him.”

As we look at Christ in the readings of the Mass, we can see the unflinching focus of the man of God. In his stooping down to those who cried out to him, in his standing up to the opposition, Jesus Christ was the image, the heart of the living God. There was no moment in his day when the fire went out. He was the totally unconfused, unmuddled son of man. And the total nature of his love cost him his life in the vehemence of his own fire. Sacrifice and faithfulness are the two marks in the race we have begun. In such a race we cannot be half-dead.

One afternoon a man was strolling through a town. He passed a funeral parlour. On the window was a sign in bold letters that read: “Funerals for as low as $50. Come on in. Why walk around half-dead?”

Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10
Psalm 40:2, 3, 4, 18
Hebrews 12:1-4
Luke 12:49-53

A reflection on today's Sacred Scriptures:

Making a covenant with God can be very dangerous for those who break their promises. Covenants are not for the weak-hearted, the fearful, or the "backsliders."

Once God has accepted our bond, He demands the best that we have. God's love is like fire, and He expects us to love in the same way.

The hearts of Prophets and saints were on fire with that love. Those who resist God, usually resist His messengers.

In today's first reading, the prophet Jeremiah was ridiculed, hated, thrown first into prison, then let down in a deep cistern by those who wouldn't listen to his message. They said it was "too demoralizing."

King Zedekiah admired Jeremiah, but he was too weak to act on his advice. Poor Jeremiah! He was battered and beaten just for telling the truth! As a result, God threatened complete destruction of the city by fire, and eventually that happened! Most prophets throughout the ages have suffered for speaking the truth.

In today's Gospel, Jesus declared that His teachings will bring division and conflict, even within His followers' own households. The fire of God's love is meant to bring justice, but at what a price! Hearts hardened by greed and hate, or just indifference, are always intolerant of those who preach the power of God's truth.

Today's second reading from Hebrews urges the early Christians, and us, to look at the "cloud of witnesses," the saints and heroes who have gone before us, for courage to remain loyal in the face of opposition. In other words, God urges us to "hang in there" until the hour of heavenly reward and the final fulfillment of His plan for us.

PRAYER: (Janet Morley)

Spirit of truth

whom the world can never grasp,

touch our hearts

with the shock of your coming;

fill us with desire

for your disturbing peace;

and fire us with longing

to speak your uncontainable word

through Jesus Christ.

The 20th Sunday of the Year
Jer 38:4-6 & 8-10; Heb 12:1-4; Luke 12:49-53 (Year C)

“Let Jeremiah be put to death: he is unquestionably disheartening the remaining soldiers in the city, and all the people too, by talking like this…”

Jeremiah, together with a host of martyrs reaching down to the present day, was not a welcome voice. As Jerusalem faced destruction, he alone proclaimed that resistance was futile. He alone had the courage to describe the coming disaster as the inevitable consequence of infidelity and the shameless exploitation of the poor. His contemporaries sought to silence him by abandoning him to drown in a muddy well.

Sinful humanity habitually resists the truth about itself. Thus, from the moment of his calling, Jeremiah had been entrusted with a divine message that had the power “to tear up and knock down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant”.

God’s Word continues to confront our lives: in prayer, in the Scriptures, and in its presence amongst those who share our journey. Pride refuses to acknowledge the truth about itself. Humility acknowledges its sin, allowing the power of that same Word to become its rebuilding and replanting.

Our own society is not so very different from that of Jeremiah. We have huge potential, and yet at the same time we face challenges that cannot be ignored. Climate change, and the inequalities between rich and poor nations, readily spring to mind. These are but examples; there are many other pressing needs. What is important is our response to these challenges. Do we bury them, as Jeremiah was cast into a well, or do we respond to them?

At the Presentation Simeon acknowledged the infant Jesus as a light to the nations. He also went on to describe him as destined for the fall and for the rising of many, as one who would lay bare the secret thoughts of many. As such he would become a sign that would be rejected.

Thus, in the fullness of his ministry, Jesus described himself as bringing fire to the earth. Fire, that purifies and refines, also has the power to consume what is worthless. Jesus, like Jeremiah before him, would speak words that confronted the arrogance of those who refused to listen.

“Do you suppose that I am here to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. From now on a household of five will be divided: three against two and two against three.”

May the fire of Christ’s living Word purify our divided hearts, enabling us, with him, to remain faithful in the face of rejection.