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_{Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
August 19, 2007}

          Jesus said, "I came to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it was already kindled! and I came to bring, not peace, but division!"  Jesus talks about bringing fire to the earth…fire and not peace.  What do you think of that?  Jesus has a way of surprising us, of unsettling us, of breaking us out of our complacency.  That surely is what he is doing here.  He is also once again reminding us what it means to be his disciples.

          Jesus' point is that there will be times when his followers will have to take a stand on certain moral issues of their time, just as he did in his time.  Jesus warns us that taking a stand could bring persecution, as it did in today's first reading.  Or it could bring insults and suffering, as Paul warns us that it might in today's second reading.  Finally, it could bring division between nation...and even family members...as Jesus warns us in today's Gospel.

          The early followers of Jesus did not have to wait long before these warnings became realities.  Hardly 30 years after Jesus ascended to heaven, people as far away as Rome were becoming Christian.  When members of a Roman family became Christian, their lives changed.  They no longer joined their family members in pagan worship.  They no longer joined their friends at gladiatorial games in the Coliseum, cheering on two slaves as they fought each other to death.  They no longer joined school friends in the orgies and other immoral activities that were widespread in Rome in its declining, decadent years.  They no longer accepted the cultural practice of hastening the deaths of infants who were born with physical defects.

          That brings us to our gathering here in this church today.  When Jesus invites us to follow him, he realizes what he is asking us to do.  And he wants us to realize it also.  He wants us to realize that our commitment to him and to his teaching must take priority over everything else.  And sometimes that means taking a stand that will cost us dearly… both personally and socially.

          When Jesus said, "I came to set the earth on fire...", he was speaking about the fire of determined loved, the fire of impassioned devotion to his mission.  He came to save us and nothing could deter him from that end. 

          Remember when he predicted his Passion and Peter tried to talk him out of it?  What did Jesus say?  "Get behind me, Satan!"  In a sense Jesus is singled minded in his approach to life...he came for us, all of us; we are all God's children, brothers and sisters of Jesus.  He came to save all of us.

          Jesus' fire doesn't destroy in the sense of burning up.  Jesus' fire is special.  It purifies.  It burns away hypocrisy.  It teaches us to accept each other as brothers and sisters.  It teaches us to share Jesus' mission and bring the Good News to everyone.  It forces us to look at our commitment of faith.  It can make us honest.

          Look at our commitment of faith, our commitment to Christ.  It is life changing when we take it seriously and let Jesus' fire purify us.  If we are committed to Christ, what will our attitude be toward our material possessions?  To our relationships with family, with friends, with enemies?  What will our attitude be toward our social responsibilities?  Our commitment to Jesus Christ needs to shape our priorities, our goals, what we value, how we behave.  This can be life changing.  It can upset our relationships.  Or as Jesus said, it can bring divisions, divisions within a household, within a family.

          When we look back at Jesus and how his commitment to the mission God gave him affected his life, we see that it did bring division.  In a sense, it brought division when he remained in the temple as a child and Mary and Joseph had to search for him.  It certainly brought division between Jesus and the Pharisees, the Scribes, and the priests.  His commitment led to his death.  For most of us our commitment will not lead us that way, but if we allow our commitment to shape our life, make changes in our values and how we live out our priorities, it can bring division.

          But don't lose heart!  Remember what we heard in today’s second reading from Paul's Letter to the Hebrews.  We are surrounded by clouds of witnesses.  We are to run the race with our eyes fixed on Jesus, remembering as he did the joy that lies before us.

          Don't be startled or unsettled by the talk of fire and division.  Remember Jesus can take anything and make good out of it.  Let us pray that we have Jesus' fire of determined love, his fire of impassioned devotion and commitment.  Let us pray for division; that we will be divided away from those who do not follow Christ and that we will be united with the clouds of witnesses, the company of the saints!