Today we hear a Gospel that may strike us as quite disturbing.

Jesus says that he did not come to bring peace but division!

Christ is the Prince of Peace! He came to reconcile us to the Father

But the peace of Christ is founded on the acceptance of Jesus and his teachings.

the believer cannot allow human affiliations,

even family relationships,to take precedence over relationship with Christ and the Gospel.

 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊  

Romans 6:19-23

You see that

I speak in a very human way, taking into account that you are not fully mature.

There was a time when you let your members be slaves of impurity and disorder, walking in the way of sin: convert them now into servants of righteousness, to the point of becoming holy.

When you were slaves of sin, you did not feel under obligation to righteousness, but what were the fruits of those actions of which you are now ashamed? Such things bring death. Now, however, you have been freed from sin and serve God. You are bearing fruit and growing in holiness, and the result will be life everlasting. So on one side is sin: its reward, death; on the other side is God: he gives us, by grace, life everlasting in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

 

Ps 1:1-2, 3, 4 & 6 Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊     

Luke 12:49-53

I have come to bring fire upon the earth and how I wish it were already kindled; but I have a baptism to undergo and what anguish I feel until it is over! Do you think that I have come to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. From now on, in one house five will be divided; three against two, and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father; mother against daughter and daughter against mother; mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law."

 

Gospel Reflection ：

"God appearing as fire." 

In today's Gospel, Jesus says that he has come to bring fire on the earth. In our day, when forest fires and home fires cause so much destruction, that image can sound strange to our ears. But there is a long tradition in the Bible of God appearing as fire. When Abraham made his covenant with the Lord, the Lord appeared as a flaming torch to ratify the pact. As the Israelites traveled from slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land, God accompanied them at night as pillar of fire. In the New Testament, the Holy Spirit descends on the gathered disciples as tongues of fire.

What can this image teach us about the nature of God? Fire purifies, as it can sterilize equipment and wounds. Fire protects, keeping predators away. Fire provides warmth and nutrition, heating our homes and allowing us to cook. Fire provides light in the darkness. So too does God offer us healing, protection, comfort, sustenance, and enlightenment.