Thursday of 29th Week, Year II: reflection
Theme: The fire and division that will set us free.
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Reading: Lk 1249-53
Today’s gospel reading could be described as
one of the gospel passages that present some controversial or strange statements
by Jesus Christ. One may wonder whether Jesus actually made those statements or
if the gospel writers borrowed them from another source.
It is hard to believe that Jesus, the prince of
peace, who preached peace and love, could be saying that He had come to cast
fire upon the earth and that He had not come to bring peace to families, but
rather divisions that will rock family ties, pitting all the subjects in the
family against themselves.
But then, the Word of God is indeed fire that
burns down the structures of sin in those who welcome it; it reduces to ashes
the old sinful way of doing things so that new things will grow. It has a
cleansing effect on those who open their hearts to it, filling them with the
burning zeal to please God in whatever they do. The fire of the gospel will not
destroy those who welcome it, but will consume all affiliations that will deny
them eternal life.
As hard as it is to accept that Jesus came to
bring divisions in families, the truth remains that whoever truly accepts the
gospel of Christ has also accepted that loyalty to Christ must take precedence
over the dearest loyalties of this world, which would include loyalty to family
members and friends. Such a person will prioritize Christ and His will, and
should the desires of his/her family or friends ever conflict with those of
Christ for his/her life, he or she will choose to obey Christ's. This will obviously
bring divisions among family ties. Nonetheless, these divisions will help to
liberate the Christian from all ties that will deny him/her eternal bliss in
heaven.
May the blessings of God shower upon you this
Thursday, Amen
Fr. Isaac C. Chima
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