Word to the Wise
Thursday, October 25, 2007 - Twenty-ninth Thursday in Ordinary Time
[Romans 6:19-23 and Luke 12:49-53]I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! There is a baptism with which I must be baptized and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.
For the past few days, the scripture from the Gospel of Luke has focused on Jesus' teaching about "preparedness" and "alertness" on the part of disciples. He leaves little room for doubt about the need for discipline and to stay in shape. In today's gospel passage he also points out what he and future disciples must be prepared to endure. Scripture scholars point to fire as a purifying symbol in the Bible. We use the expression "baptism by fire" to mean an ordeal undergone when one takes up a difficult task. Jesus refers to his own approaching trial and warns all disciples that this "baptism by fire" may go so far as to mean division and separation from close loved ones. This is no abstraction. I have witnessed it in person when a parent of a prospective bride or groom has refused to come to a Catholic wedding! On a more serious level, religious belief serves as a way of fomenting violence between social groups. The current fears engendered by 9/11 are a dramatic example. Is this kind of thing inevitable? One could get that impression from Jesus' own statements. It may be too much to hope that we can eliminate inter-religious violence altogether, but that does not excuse us from working to reduce it or eliminate it in particular situations. Perhaps that may be the biggest challenge for any disciple. AMEN
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