Gospel: Lk 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.
From now on a household of five will be divided,
three against two and two against three;
a father will be divided against his son
and a son against his father,
a mother against her daughter
and a daughter against her mother,
a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”
Reflections:
Jesus came to
bring fire on earth. Fire is a symbol of purification. It destroys, gets out
the true nature of precious metals like gold and silver. It gives warmth and has
been used by humans in rituals, in agriculture for clearing land, for cooking,
generating heat and light, for signalling, propulsion purposes, smelting,
forging, incineration of waste, cremation, and as a weapon or mode of
destruction. Does Jesus mean at least few of these things? Of course, he does.
His zeal for the way of righteousness, for giving the Good News and message of
his Father’s love, is so intense that it is compared to a fire! It is not
difficult to understand the examples he gives, of the division in the family
which is caused when a person is trying to live zealously. It is said, that you
either follow some ideals, or nothing at all.
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