20th Sunday in Ordinary Time 08-19-07

Christ, Our Peace, Comes to Bring Division?

Prepared by: Rev. James Cuddy, O.P.

Scripture Readings
First Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10
Second Hebrews 12:1-4
Gospel Luke 12:49-53

1. Subject Matter

• Our Lord’s presence among men brings about a time of decision. Will we accept his offer of
friendship, communion, and divine life? All must respond to his invitation; none may remain
neutral.
• St. Paul tells us that Christ is our peace (cf. Eph 2:14) and that he made peace through the
blood of his Cross (cf. Col 1:20). Our Lord himself instructs his disciples to bring peace to the
houses that they enter (cf. Luke 10:5). Further, his parting words in his farewell discourse are
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you” (John 14:27) and his first words after the
Resurrection are the same (cf. John 20:19). And yet today’s Gospel tells us that Christ’s
Incarnation was not undertaken in order to establish peace on the earth. How do we
reconcile this apparent contradiction? Cur Deus homo?

2. Exegetical Notes

• “I have come to set the world on fire.” In treating this passage, it is helpful to recall some
other accounts of fire being cast upon the land. Particularly relevant is the story of Elijah and
the prophets of Baal (cf. 1 Kings 18:36-40). The fire comes down from heaven and consumes
the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and even the water that was in the trench, thereby
proving that the Lord alone was God. Also of interest is the account of Jesus and the
disciples passing through the Samaritan village. When the locals would not receive Jesus,
James and John ask the Lord if they ought to call down fire from heaven to consume them.
Jesus, in turn, rebukes his disciples and leads them into another village.
• Broadly speaking, fire has two divergent meanings. The first is in terms of life, whereby living
things cannot survive without the light and warmth it offers. Even mighty forest fires bring life
to affected areas by opening seedlings and purifying the land of invasive, non-native species
of trees. The second meaning of fire is in terms of death and destruction, whereby it levels
everything in its path and reduces once-proud structures to piles of smoldering ashes.
• There are also two Lucan understandings of fire. The first is in terms of eschatological
judgment (cf. 3:9, 3:17, 9:54, 17:29), and the second has reference to the gift of the Holy
Spirit (3:16, Acts 2:3).
• The baptism that Jesus desires is his Passion. This is the definitive event by which man will
be reconciled to God. The true fire that gives life, warmth, and light to the world shines forth
from the Cross (cf. John 12:32 – “When I am lifted up to the earth, I will draw all men to
myself”).
• That the Lord should so earnestly wish that the hearts of all men were already lit ablaze
indicates both the depth of his love for us as well as the extent of his condescension in the
Incarnation.
• The description of the family dissention that Jesus brings is an emphatic presentation of the
division he brings. It also points to another apparent contradiction: Christ’s turning father
against son would be the undoing of John the Baptist’s turning the hearts of fathers towards
their children (cf. 1:17).
• Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather
division. “This is the clearest statement in Jesus’ own mouth of the division created in people
by the prophet (cf. 2:35). More surprising is the apparent contradiction of the infancy
account’s promise that Jesus would bring peace (cf. 1:79, 2:14, 29). The answer, of course,
is that those who accept the prophet have this peace (7:50, 8:48, 10:5-6), but are separated
from those who reject the prophet’s message” (Sacra Pagina).
• Jesus is set for the rising and falling of many in Israel (cf. Luke 2:34). It is clear from Scripture
and our own experience of the world that there are many who do not accept Christ’s offer of
divine life and remain cut off from the Kingdom.

3. References to the Catechism of the Catholic Church

• CCC 696: While water signifies birth and the fruitfulness of life given in the Holy Spirit, fire
symbolizes the transforming energy of the Holy Spirit's actions. The fire of the Holy Spirit
transforms what he touches. In the form of tongues "as of fire," the Holy Spirit rests on the
disciples on the morning of Pentecost and fills them with himself.
• CCC 536: The baptism of Jesus is on his part the acceptance and inauguration of his
mission as God's suffering Servant. Already he is submitting himself entirely to his Father's
will: out of love he consents to this baptism of death for the remission of our sins. Jesus will
be the source of the Spirit for all mankind.
• CCC 607: The desire to embrace his Father's plan of redeeming love inspired Jesus' whole
life, for his redemptive passion was the very reason for his Incarnation.
• CCC 2804: The first series of petitions of the Lord’s Prayer carries us toward the Father, for
his own sake: thy name, thy kingdom, thy will! It is characteristic of love to think first of the
one whom we love. In none of the three petitions do we mention ourselves. The burning
desire, even anguish, of the beloved Son for his Father's glory seizes us.

4. Patristic Commentary and Other Authorities

• St. Ambrose: Our Lord kindles in men the desire of acquiring the divine nature, saying, I
came to send fire on earth, not indeed that He is the Consumer of good men, but the Author
of good will, who purifies the golden vessels of the Lord's house, but burns up the straw and
stubble.
• St. Cyril: As they who know how to purify gold and silver, destroy the dross by fire, so the
Savior by the teaching of the Gospel in the power of the Spirit cleanses the minds of those
who believe in Him. This then is that wholesome and useful fire by which the inhabitants of
earth, in a manner cold and dead through sin, revive to a life of piety.
• St. Gregory of Nazianzus: By the fiery breath of the Holy Spirit, the earthly mind has all its
carnal desires burnt up, but inflamed with spiritual love, bewails the evil it has done; and so
the earth is burnt, when the conscience accusing itself, the heart of the sinner is consumed in
the sorrow of repentance.
• St. Thomas Aquinas: If the worship of one's parents take one away from the worship of God
it would no longer be an act of piety to pay worship to one's parents to the prejudice of God.
Therefore in such a case the duties of piety towards one's parents should be omitted for the
sake of the worship religion gives to God. If, however, by paying the services due to our
parents, we are not withdrawn from the service of God, then will it be an act of piety, and
there will be no need to set piety aside for the sake of religion (STh II-II, 101, 4).
• Lumen Gentium: The family is, so to speak, the domestic church. In it parents should, by
their word and example, be the first preachers of the faith to their children.
• John Paul II: There is no family that does not know how selfishness, discord, tension and
conflict violently attack and at times mortally wound its own communion. Hence there arise
the many and varied forms of division in family life. But, at the same time, every family is
called by the God of peace to have the joyous and renewing experience of reconciliation that
is, communion reestablished, unity restored (Familiaris Consortio, 22).
• Peter Kreeft (on Pascal’s Wager): The most powerful part of Pascal's argument . . . is his
refutation of agnosticism as impossible. Agnosticism, not-knowing, maintaining a skeptical,
uncommitted attitude, seems to be the most reasonable option. The agnostic says, "The right
thing is not to wager at all." Pascal replies, "But you must wager. There is no choice. You are
already committed." We are not outside observers of life, but participants. We are like ships
that need to get home, sailing past a port that has signs on it proclaiming that it is our true
home and our true happiness. The ships are our own lives and the signs on the port say
"God". The agnostic says he will neither put in at that port (believe) nor turn away from it
(disbelieve) but stay anchored a reasonable distance away until the weather clears and he
can see better whether this is the true port or a fake (for there are a lot of fakes around). Why
is this attitude unreasonable, even impossible? Because we are moving. The ship of life is
 moving along the waters of time, and there comes a point of no return, when our fuel runs
out, when it is too late. The Wager works because of the fact of death.

5. Examples from the Saints and Other Exemplars

• The lives of the saints are often marked by opposition within the saint’s own family. One of
the most notable examples is that of St. Thomas Aquinas. After bringing his noble family
shame by joining the Order of Preachers, Thomas was kidnapped by his brothers and
imprisoned in his family home for two years. The brothers even sent into his room a woman
of ill-repute, hoping that her charms would weaken his resolve to follow in the ways of St.
Dominic. Thomas, of course, resisted her advances by chasing her from the room with a
blazing torch that he pulled from the fire.
• Another account of choosing to follow Christ in the face of family resistance is found in the
life of St. Catherine of Siena. Around the age of seven, she made her private vow to God. But
when she was twelve, her mother began to urge her to pay more attention to her appearance
so that she might be a more suitable bride. To please her mother and sister, she dressed in
the bright gowns and jewels that were fashionable for young girls. Soon she repented of this
vanity, and declared with finality that she would never marry. When her parents persisted in
their talk about finding her a husband, she cut off the golden-brown hair that was her chief
beauty. Finally, after a few years of struggle, her family members resigned themselves to her
vocation.

6. Quotations from Pope Benedict XVI

• “The Spirit is also the energy which transforms the heart of the ecclesial community, so that it
becomes a witness before the world to the love of the Father, who wishes to make humanity
a single family in his Son.”
• “The Church’s mission exists only as a prolongation of Christ’s mission: ‘As the Father has
sent me, even so I send you.’ The evangelist stresses, in striking language, that the passing
on of this commission takes place in the Holy Spirit: ‘he breathed on them and said to them:
‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” Christ’s mission is accomplished in love. He has kindled in the
world the fire of God’s love. It is Love that gives life: and so the Church has been sent forth to
spread Christ’s Love throughout the world, so that individuals and peoples “may have life,
and have it abundantly.”
• “Agnosticism derives from the reduction of human intelligence to a mere practical mechanism
that tends to stifle the religious sense engraved in the depths of our nature. All of us, and
especially our children, adolescents and young people, need to live faith as joy and to savor
that profound tranquility to which the encounter with the Lord gives rise. The source of
Christian joy is the certainty of being loved by God, loved personally by our Creator, by the
One who holds the entire universe in his hands and loves each one of us and the whole great
human family with a passionate and faithful love, a love greater than our infidelities and sins,
a love which forgives. This love is so great that it turns God against himself, as appears
definitively in the mystery of the Cross: ‘So great is God's love for man that by becoming
man he follows him even into death, and so reconciles justice and love.’”
7. Other Considerations

• The refrain in the Responsorial Psalm (Lord, come to my aid!) and the Second Reading (The
great cloud of witnesses) serve to remind us that while are incapable of achieving our own
salvation, the grace of Christ gives brings us new life. Our forebears in the Christian life have
persevered in their vocation to follow Christ. The division and hardships that may come about
when we embrace the Gospel can be overcome. The saints show us how to be faithful to our
new lives of love in the Spirit.

Recommended Resources

Pope Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter Deus Caritas Est. Washington, DC: USCCB Publishing,
2006.

Raymond Brown, SS, Joseph Fitzmeyer, SJ, and Roland Murphy, O. Carm., The Jerome Biblical
Commentary. Published in two Volumes. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1968.

Peter John Cameron, OP, editor, Benedictus: Day by Day with Pope Benedict XVI. Yonkers:
Magnificat/Ignatius Press, 2006.

Luke Timothy Johnson, The Gospel of Luke. Volume Three in the Sacra Pagina Series.
Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1991.