- Feb 5, 2002
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The Gospel is very sad this Sunday, the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C. Jesus tells us that he comes to bring division — to divide us even from our families.
He means to put an end to the carefree days when we could politely ignore fundamental differences. He demands that, when we are given a choice between pleasing him and pleasing our children or parents, we choose him.
It’s no good pretending this isn’t a sad choice to have to make. But it’s also no good pretending that the alternative isn’t much, much worse.
In the Gospel passage Jesus makes clear that he is not just a judge; he is a judge eagerly awaiting the chance to burn away evil.
“I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!” Jesus says.
When you hear “fire” there, think of two very different but related things — think “Word on fire,” and think “fire of destruction.”
The fire he brings is the potency of his Word, the saving message of the Scriptures that should make us glow with zeal just as it made the Emmaus disciples say “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures?”
Continued below.
This Sunday: Yes, Family Life Is Tough. Jesus Wants You to Stay and Fight
He means to put an end to the carefree days when we could politely ignore fundamental differences. He demands that, when we are given a choice between pleasing him and pleasing our children or parents, we choose him.
It’s no good pretending this isn’t a sad choice to have to make. But it’s also no good pretending that the alternative isn’t much, much worse.
In the Gospel passage Jesus makes clear that he is not just a judge; he is a judge eagerly awaiting the chance to burn away evil.
“I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!” Jesus says.
When you hear “fire” there, think of two very different but related things — think “Word on fire,” and think “fire of destruction.”
The fire he brings is the potency of his Word, the saving message of the Scriptures that should make us glow with zeal just as it made the Emmaus disciples say “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures?”
Continued below.
This Sunday: Yes, Family Life Is Tough. Jesus Wants You to Stay and Fight
