Fr. John Ryan

 

TWENTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
19th AUGUST

Today's Gospel is a powerful one and one that may strike very hard at the heart and mind. It appears so out of character with the image of Jesus that we have - the Jesus of love, peace and mercy does not seem to fit in with the Jesus who says Do you suppose that I am here to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. What does he mean? How does it fit in to the overall message he proclaims? After all this is the one who tells us to turn the other cheek, to love our enemy, who forgives his persecutors as he hangs on the cross.
He has come to bring fire to the earth and he wishes that it were burning already! Dramatic images indeed! On reflection it seems that there is massive tension within Jesus. He is approaching the time of suffering, 'his hour', and must have felt the strain. Yet this is the one who remains to the end focused on the mission he has been given by the Father. This is the Jesus who tells Judas to go and do what has to be done. This is the Jesus who in the midst of the agony in the garden can say let your will not mine be done. He is focused on the end and is so to the end. In the light of this I would say that he is very aware of what he says in today's gospel. It is not a matter of letting things 'get' to him.
Jesus, I think, is conscious of the effect that his death and resurrection will have. Some will be able to accept it and others will not. He is conscious that the different reactions to him will lead to difficulties. Faith in him is a free choice and there are times when the differences in faith and acceptance lead to division. Jesus focuses on familial relationships when he gives detail on the conflictual possibilities. And indeed it is something many of us have seen - the difference in faith level and expression between family members can lead to problems. The parent who firmly believes may be disappointed if not angry with the son or daughter who has opted out of the faith community. The divergence of thought and spirituality can lead to tension and argument. Jesus realised this. The fire of dissension and difference can run ragged through the bonds forged in life. I think that in his realisation of the full ramifications of the passion, death and resurrection he resolutely chooses to embrace what is necessary for the salvation of mankind and accepts the fallout that will occur.
Such fallout is inevitable when dealing with human nature and the tendency to self-fulfilment, independence at all costs and the constant need for scientific or rational reassurance for the foundations of knowledge and understanding. In this scientific age the importance of faith and the spirit, the need to acknowledge the divine, is seen as an unnatural thing; it is seen as the last resort for the dumb and the fearful. In this scenario we can lose sight of [Jesus], who leads us in our faith and brings it to perfection. We must remember that for the sake of the joy which was still in the future, he endured the cross... and even if we experience the fire burning in our own lives, or experience division over faith we must reply with loving kindness, mercy and forgiveness.