“Fire of Divine Love” - 20th Sunday Homily

when I prepare couples for marriage, one of the first things I do with them is a Catholic survey of their relationship.

They take the survey individually and honestly, it's 150, 200 statements with which they will agree or disagree with, and it covers all the categories, or a lot of them at least,

finances, raising children, communication, et cetera.

And there's one statement

I think helps to explain today's gospel.

That statement is for the man and woman to respond to.

I value keeping the peace, quote unquote, at any price to avoid arguments and confrontation.

Now with each of the questions on the survey there is a preferred answer.

And the preferred answer for that statement is to disagree.

Jesus talking about not establishing peace, not the keep the peace to avoid conflict.

That's not real peace.

It's like at the Thanksgiving dinner table when a Catholic family member is railing against the church or against the faith and everyone else is just kind of letting it

happen, so often not saying anything.

And Jesus saying from now on someone's going to speak up.

in that sense be a cause of division.

Otherwise it just keeps going and going and all these situations no one's standing up for what's So that railing against the faith at the dinner is kind of like pouring water on

the fire of faith.

Which He says He's come to set the earth on fire.

How I wish you're already blazing.

This fire for God, for what's good, for love, which He himself lived.

As the second reading said, He endured such opposition from sinners, such division within the human family.

And He was just being himself.

Calling God His Father.

But you can imagine when He does it publicly, He's going to get opposition from the religious leaders.

Who are you to call God your father?

Like in our families, who are you to tell us about Jesus?

Who are you to preach the gospel?

or any of His teachings.

He knew full well.

You call people to change their lives.

One of His first words in His ministry was repent, change your ways, live the commandments.

That came from the fire of His love.

But it brought this opposition, this division.

Like finally someone saying something even stronger than the prophets.

who got that division and brought that division.

He didn't back down, Jesus.

He didn't keep the peace to avoid conflict.

He spoke the truth, He lived the truth, and it led Him to this baptism with which He must be baptized.

His passion, His cross, His suffering.

That's another, we also use the word passion for fire, to be on fire or something, be filled with passion.

So our passion leads to our passion.

At the Thanksgiving dinner table, passion for God and for our faith will call me to say something, but now seeing as I'm getting it, I'm stepping into it my family.

Or other issues, sticky circumstances that you say something, whether it's about morals or religion or just the family situation, planning for holidays, whatever it might be.

You speak up and next thing you know there's division.

Pope Benedict called it the fire of crucified love.

That passion we have for God that's also with reason.

We don't go spouting off looking for division, looking to cause a conflict, confrontation.

We do what we have to do it with prudence and love.

But it leads to this

experience of division, which is painful.

It's what Jesus experienced and He says His followers will experience this.

And that we will speak up as we're hearing these relationships, it might strike a chord.

That's exactly what's going on in my family.

Son against father, daughter against mother.

I mean, I know families in this parish, it's abuse going near the way because of the faith.

All kinds of situations, I work with people, we're all in it and no one's saying things with like marriages in the family that are unlawful or outside the church.

Cohabitation.

domestic violence or verbal abuse, drug or alcohol abuse, neglect of an elderly parent or a family member.

These things happen and none of us are saying anything.

We just let it happen to keep the peace, to avoid confrontation or conflict.

But we do it with love, we do it with prudence, we know what Jesus' calling is to, and remember it is an act of love.

For Him and for them to represent Him in this tough situation.

Finally, there are good and happy endings when there's division.

It can lead to true peace, which is harmony and unity together within the family.

So examples would be parents whose kids are young adults and they're kind of growing and they're not coming to Sunday Mass.

They're kind of resisting the faith.

The parents come to me saying, I don't know what more I can do.

I said, you've done all you can.

Now, kind of ask God to send someone else to help.

And so someone like me might step in and talk to their kid, their son or daughter about our faith and explain what we do, what we do.

Why we come to Mass, the Eucharist is.

And it's happened where the kid gets on fire for the faith, for God, and then comes back with the parents.

It's a real peace.

The real peace

from the prince of peace that is harmony and unity in the family.