Dearest Friends in Christ, I welcome you to the twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C. We thank the Lord for the gift of life. We thank Him for His goodness, mercies, and love. May the name of the Lord be highly exalted both now and forever. Amen. In John 14:27, Jesus says: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” Today, in our world, many desire peace, many desire unity.
However, Jesus says to us in today’s Gospel reading that He has not come to bring peace, but to bring fire and division. One may begin to ask why Jesus would say such a thing. This is because peace is something everybody truly desires; fire, on the other hand, is dreaded except when it is meant for cooking. Also, if there is anything Nigerians desire, if there is anything we want in our families, if there is anything we want in our Church, it is unity. However, Jesus again says He brings division. At this point, we may be confused. But at the end of the day, it is about understanding.
When Jesus said He was going to send fire upon the earth, He didn’t mean it to be a destroying fire, but a life-saving and life-giving fire of the Holy Spirit. I said earlier that fire is dreaded because of its destructive nature. But the few times the Bible talks about fire, it is used as a symbol of life. As we know, life is warmth, and death is cold. So, when Jesus said, I have come to cast fire on earth, it was an assurance of sending a Spirit that would introduce life-giving energy amid evil, sin, corruption, and death. The fire Jesus speaks of also symbolizes purification; a fire that seeks to purify anything that is evil, corrupt, disobedient to the voice of God, or not of God.
This is exactly what we see in the first reading of today, taken from the book of Jeremiah. God sent Jeremiah to tell them that the only way out was to surrender to Babylon and pay tribute. Jeremiah delivered the message, and what did he get in return? As he already knew, this message would not be well received. He knew he could be killed for it. But then, he had to stand on the side of God. The project of purification is not always an easy task. This explains why Jesus had to pass through all the persecution, the sufferings, and death.
As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are called to participate in this project of purification. To experience true peace, we need to be on the side of Jesus, who came to give peace not as the world gives it, but as He (Jesus Christ) gives it. This project of purification, of fire, of peace, was never easy in the time of Jesus. It was not easy for Jeremiah, and it is never going to be easy for any follower of Jesus, especially as we live in a world that is fast becoming decayed. Today, we talk about the loss of the sense of sin, the loss of the consciousness of the existence of God; corruption is the talk of every day, which we see in the country, the churches, schools, business sectors, and the family. In this project of fire, purification, peace, and division against evil, we are invited to be on the side of God.
This project may attract opposition, criticism, and persecution in different forms; some may be bloody and some unbloody. It takes great courage and grace to be a follower of Christ. Sirach 2:1-9 tells us that anyone who wants to serve God must prepare for an ordeal. When we embark on the project of purification, it sometimes brings tension between us and those we love (family, friends, and colleagues at the workplace). Here, we might be tempted to compromise to maintain a good relationship with them so that “peace” will reign. Dear friends in Christ, when we do the above, true peace will not be achieved. This is because we cannot be disciples of Christ if family, friends, and work colleagues take precedence in our lives. This is what Jesus meant when He said division against father and son, etc. Obedience to God is better than sacrifice.
Therefore, we should not sacrifice our mission as purifiers on the altar of family, friendship, and loved ones. It is about seeking first the kingdom of God and its righteousness (Matt 6:33). The Letter to the Hebrews 12:1-4, the second reading of today, tells us to “run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking at Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.” It is all about Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Jesus came into the world to establish a kingdom among us, from which He will give us a glimpse of what heaven is like. In other words, the kingdom Jesus wishes to establish in the world is a kingdom that will be built on love, justice, and peace.
This kingdom will not be like the kingdom of the Old Testament or what we have in our world today; this kingdom will be established on self-giving and unconditional love. Even though the present happenings are enough to discourage us, to the point we may even ask ourselves if truly the kingdom of God is established or will ever be established among us because even after the death and resurrection of Jesus, the devil seems to be winning; do not give up on doing what is good. In the Letter of Peter 1:16-19, when Peter was giving his testimony of the Transfiguration event, he told the people he was addressing: “You will do well to pay attention to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns.”
In other words, dear people of God, seek the light amid darkness; seek good amid evil. As Christians, we are in a continuous battle; battle between the angels and the demons; battle between good and evil; battle between light and darkness; and battle between the spirit and the flesh. In all of these, let us strive to be conquerors against that which is not of God.
Today, dear friends in Christ, let us join Jesus in the project of purification in our world. Let us join the project of being advocates of peace as Christ gives it; let us be advocates of division as Christ desires it, division against anything that is not of God. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
• Rev. Fr. Anthony Olympio, Associate Parish Priest, Our Lady Queen of Apostles Catholic Church Ilupeju, Lagos.
