Thursday of the 29th Week in Ordinary Time
Rom 6: 19-23: Luke 12: 49-53
Dc. Larry Brockman
It’s a never ending battle- the battle between our earthly bodies and the call of God and His spirit within us, the battle between comfort and pleasure in this world; and the nagging feeling that there must be something more to life, and the desire to know what that is; the battle between self –absorption and unconditional love.
All of us are born into that dilemma. But the world cries out to us with its many attractions at first. And so, we kind of settle into a way of life, living our lives as the world dictates them to us. Because the voices of this world are loud and ever present; while the voice of God and the spirit within in us that nags us with “wait a minute” constantly, those other voices are subdued and vague. Paul calls this inability to hear the true voice “the weakness of your nature”.
Now here is some of what our nature does with what the loud voices say: we need to eat to sustain life- but we can become totally consumed with the pleasures of food and abuse our bodies; we are attracted to each other physically- but for some that becomes a never ending obsession in life; we need money to buy the necessities of life- but for some, money is the only focus of life; there are challenging and interesting things to do in the world like sports, science, the arts, music, you name it- but we can become so consumed in them that they derail any attempts to consider God and his plan.
And so, what happens to us? We try to become what we think people want us to be, or what we think will make us popular; or what will gain us the most comfort or attention or fame rather than becoming the person God is calling us to be. We are too busy for God. Oh, we tell ourselves once and a while we will listen. But the things of this world can essentially take up all our energy and efforts. We become of two minds- but one of them has control of us, the world; and the other mind is left in the background.
And yet, at some time during our lives, we realize that life as we know it in this world simply won’t last forever, and especially not at the pace and level of the prime of life. Either we get sick, old, pushed down by others, or just fail to meet our own expectations. Then we begin to wonder just what is life all about and if is there something more.
Jesus knew there was something more right from the start. So, he went into the desert and came to grips with God and his purpose in life; and he was eager and ready to get on with it. He says as much in today’s Gospel. Why does he make such strong statements in today’s Gospel about dividing people? Because he needed to get our attention and because he wanted all of us to see the path he had taken. He wanted all of us to realize, as he had come to realize, what life was really all about- namely loving God, our neighbors, and ourselves as God loves us and following God’s plan for us until we leave this world and join God in the everlasting Kingdom of Heaven.
The reality is that he knew tat when he accomplished his mission, it would bring controversy, not peace to earth. It would, and still does, separate families from each other. Jesus knew it would. There will be those who follow him, those who seek something above what the world offers; and there will be those who don’t follow him, but rather, are self-absorbed and belong to the world. St. Paul tells us about the fate of both contingents. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, Our Lord.