Fr. Mike Dupo, CJM
There some guiding questions that we must answer personally in order to guide us in the 20th Sunday of Ordinary time.
How deep is our personal relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ?
To what extent does our commitment to Jesus?
The words of Jesus about the purpose of His coming were really shocking. Some got confused when he uttered these: “I have come to set the earth on fire and how I wish it were already blazing.” Another shocking question is: “do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.”
Why Jesus came to us? Was it division that He brought to us? At first glance it seemed that Jesus contradicted himself by saying those shocking words. The Old Testament prophets were expecting that the Messiah would come was a prince of peace. It was mentioned in the book of Prophet Isaiah. Prophet Micah said that the Messiah was the peace himself. In the New Testament, after his resurrection before Jesus he appeared many times to his disciples saying “peace be with you.” Some are already confused with Good News brought by Christ. What happened to the Good News now? “I have come to set the earth on fire and how I wish it were already blazing.” Another shocking question is: “do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.”
Let us first consider what Jesus said about the fire. "I have come to bring fire on the earth and how I wish it were already blazing." He did not really mean the literal translation of fire. Because if we took it literally I’m very sure that we will cease to exist. What does it mean by Jesus when He said those words? It means that the Lord would cleanse the world according to God's plan. Christ has shown to us that He was a zealous missionary sent by God the Father. And what Jesus would be going to cleanse from us? He would be going to cleanse us from the tyranny of sin and cruelty of death. How? Jesus really wished to follow the Will of the Father that He would be crucified and died on the cross just to save us the humanity. And if you are a baptized Christian and confirmed even a tiny flame or a simply spark of fire in our hearts is badly needed to follow the footsteps of our Lord. If the tiny flame in our heart would die we could no longer continue to serve our Lord through different ministries in the church. People have different experiences in their respective ministry and sometimes or most often you found yourself weary and tired of doing things. If you do not have a tiny flame of fire in your heart you would give up. Remember Jesus never let die that fire in His heart to follow the Will of God the Father until He reached the vindication on the Cross.
Let us return to those two guiding questions?
How deep is our personal relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ?
To what extent does our commitment to Jesus? Can we persevere until the end?
Now , let’s go to the second part of the Gospel . "He did not come to bring peace but division.”
We believe that Christ brought peace to the world. But what type of peace has he brought to us? When we are talking of the peace of Christ it is not only about the absence of war or conflict that we usually know. It is a deeper kind of peace where we could find the serenity in our mind, the calmness in our heart and the tranquility in our soul. But it takes a deeper faith and good discipline in our part to reach that kind of peace. Do not think that when the Messiah came peace is already with us. No, the Messiah in the person of Jesus Christ came corrected those thoughts. Real peace is not easy to possess. It will not be easy at all. Jesus came to teach us on how to become sincere workers for the Kingdom of God. But he did not say it is easy. The truth is when we want to follow Christ in this world we will encounter many oppositions. If we listened attentively and lived sincerely His words very few would believe us. Even our family members, relatives and close friends would not agree to what we believe and what we hope for. Not everyone would accept the teachings of Christ many would still rejected Him. Why? Because their easy go lucky and wealthy lifestyle would be affected. Some will not want to suffer any kind of trials so they choose the easy life. Some does not want to go with the legal process they want something illegal that is why they do not want Christian values like honesty and integrity.
If you are a true believer and true follower of Christ you want to abide by the teachings of Him even you find yourself doing it alone because you it is not only right but it is the Will of God.
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