20th Sunday in Ordinary Time -
Reflection by Fr. Leo
“Prince of Peace,” is one of the titles we proclaim Christ to be at Christmas time. We hear it in the scriptures and in our hymns. With this phrase we envision Christ bringing the fullness of peace into the world as we contemplate his innocence lying in a manger. In light of that vision of Christ, today’s gospel comes as a shock. How could this Jesus, who came to bring peace on earth be saying he came, not for peace, but for division?
Obviously, the fullness of peace can not be here yet, if there are divisions, divisions that are seen as necessary. Therefore we realize that the fullness of peace is something coming in it’s fullness, just as the kingdom of God will come in its fullness when all are raised up by the Holy Spirit. Peace comes when truth, justice and love reign; the fullness of the Kingdom.
The path to peace comes at a price and is accomplished by the Holy Spirit in Creation as a whole, and in each of us as individuals. I think the best way to understanding the process of peace is to look at our own individual journeys. Each of us are born into families and our parents nurture us and raise us. As we grow we become more autonomous, and find relationships outside the home as important as the ones in the home. Then later, we move out on our own and make our decisions for ourselves. Not without input, but we in the end choose how to make a living and whom to marry.
Individuating ourselves is a challenging process, especially for the teenager. We want to be independent, but we want the support of family. We want to be unique, but we want to fit in with everyone else. It takes a long time to become comfortable with who we are and to live freely with our own self-understanding. Along the way to our individuation we experience conflicts with those around us and even within our own selves. The conflict will hopefully be a dying to our old self and emerging into our truer self. The moving forward will be risky as we look for affirmation from within and from those we love. But when we aren’t affirmed and our deepest self knows we are moving in the right direction, we must move forward trusting in God who placed this unique self of ours within us. The struggle of growing will teach us wisdom and we learn from all something about ourselves and God.
The good news is that God will rescue us when we are rejected. He will raise us up from the cistern when needed, even if we helped build the cistern. For in the long run, with the grace of God, we will come to peace with ourselves and others. What Jesus has in today’s gospel is a burning passion for all of us to be on fire with truth and love, living as he did, so that despite life’s challenges, genuine peace will be reached when the fullness of the resurrection brings us into the fullness of the Kingdom of peace on earth as it is in heaven.