In the Gospel, Jesus said, “do you think I have come to establish peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. “Those are startling words from the man we call the Prince of Peace. We can almost see listeners turn toward one another with puzzled looks on their faces. What did he say? Did he say he came to disrupt family life by turning father against son, mother against daughter? I thought he was about love, unity, forgiveness, reconciliation. He is of course. Jesus is the Prince of Peace, but real peace, not a peace that sugar coats reality, not peace at any price.
Jesus knew that faith in him would bring division not because he wanted it but because he calls for conversion, changes in attitude and behavior. Division was and is not His mission but a response to it. Most of us can attest to the fact that living the teachings of Christ and standing up for His truth can bring discord. It has always been so.
Jeremiah in our first reading faithfully prophesied the dangers ahead unless conversion took place just as God asked him to do, and it resulted in him being thrown into a cistern and left for dead. So it would be with the Apostles, most of whom were martyred for the faith after much suffering. That is why we who seek to be authentic Christians need to pay attention to the Letter to the Hebrews, our 2nd reading, which encourages Christians to persevere. “Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus the leader and perfector of faith. Consider how he endured such opposition of sinners in order that you may not grow weary and lose heart.”
Jesus did not come with the intention of divide; division was already here, the division that separates man from God of which the evil one takes advantage. In fact he anguished over those who rejected him, prayed for their conversion, and forgave them. But he is the way, the truth and the life, and he could not compromise that truth to be popular, to be accepted in the world, or to avoid his journey to Jerusalem and the cross. So he preached for good over evil, right over wrong, love over hate, virtue over vice, giving over grasping, life over death. It is the truth he told, the standards he met, the morality he preached that separate one from another.
We live in a culture where to stand up for what Christ teaches does divide. When we speak up for the dignity of all persons from conception to natural death, when we speak out for justice for the poor and marginalized, when we defend marriage, human sexuality and gender as God intended them to be, there is a negative reaction from those in the secular culture who worship extreme individualism and proclaim there is no God, no truth, only me.
In his encyclical Lumen Fidei, The light of faith, Pope Francis attests to what happens when the light of faith is darkened by sin or selfishness. “. . . in the absence of light everything becomes confused; it is impossible to tell good from evil, or the road to our destination from other roads which take us in endless circles, going nowhere.” That describes relativism and indifferentism, lives going nowhere, even wanting to go nowhere. When we allow the light of Christ to guide our way we can weather the storms of division including those in our families and in our society with charity and hope.
From my own experience I know this to be true. Having spent a number of years in professional life before becoming Catholic and priest, I traveled in less than holy circles in the secular world. When I announced that I felt God’s call in my life to become a Catholic and a priest, most encouraged and supported me though many wondered. But some thought I was crazy. They could not accept the possibility of a life dedicated to Christ could be as meaningful or as worthwhile as my career in law. Some with whom I was previously able to have frank discussions grew distant. Sadly some friendships are now gone. When I walked into a room as a lawyer spirited conversation continued. Now when I walk into a room as a priest and bishop, the conversation often abruptly changes. (I think that is a good thing!) To deal with that rejection we need a life of prayer, openness to God’s grace, and the motherly touch of Mary.
There was a woman who was an alcoholic. She was mean spirited and angry. Her cantankerous nature had driven away what few friends she had. Her grandchildren refused to visit her. In her last years at a nursing home, roommate after roommate asked to be moved. Nurses stayed clear of her as much as possible. Her only visitor was her only daughter, who also was an alcoholic. However after a difficult personal struggle she was graced with the strength that comes through Alcoholics Anonymous.
Despite being the object of her mother’s physical and emotion abuse as a child, the daughter worked hard to establish some form of loving relationship. Through it all her mother as unbending, issuing orders, never offering words of kindness or gratitude. Nothing the daughter did was good enough. On the evening of her death, there alone at the bedside stood the daughter who wanted nothing more than to be loved by a mother who could not love, who to the very last denied her child a mother’s greatest gift. But the daughter had given her mother her greatest gift, her own love and forgiveness. She was a disciple of Christ who kept her eyes fixed on Jesus, who inspires and perfects our faith. She did not abandon the struggle despite the discouragement, and neither should we.
That is what is asked of each of us. To follow Christ fully and faithfully may result in some relationships shaken or lost. It will require us to change in attitude and behavior. It may result in moments of discouragement and sorrow. But Christ and his Church, the Blessed Mother and the saints will stand with us to help us persevere. When we do, it is not the sacrifice and division we will remember. It will be the peace we feel which the Prince of Peace promised to all who love and follow him to the Cross and beyond. Let us keep our eyes fixed on Christ. Then others may well say: I want that peace you have. Lead me to Christ.