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“Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No,
I tell you, but rather division. From now on a household of five
will be divided, three against two and two against three; a father
will be divided against his son and a son against his father, a
mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother, a
mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and a daughter-in-law
against her mother-in-law.” Luke 12:51–53
Jesus introduces this passage by saying, “I have come to set the
earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!” The “fire”
of which He speaks is His purifying fire of mercy that He poured
forth from the Cross as He offered His life for the salvation of
the world. His mercy is given to free us from our sins and to
cleanse our souls so that God Himself can come to dwell within us.
This is why we exist. God wants to dwell within us, and He wants us
to be in perfect union with Him.
One of the glorious effects of uniting yourself to God is that this
union also brings about a spiritual bond with others who are united
to God. We are made for communion with God, but also for communion
with each other. God especially invites family members to share in
this unity. Though there are many levels of friendship and unity we
can have with each other, the deepest bonds come from two souls
each being united to God. For example, two people may both like the
same sports team or have the same interests, resulting in a bond or
form of friendship. This is good. But when each of those friends
also is deeply united to God, the unity comes from God and not from
something more superficial.
The challenging Gospel passage above reveals to us what happens
when one or more members of a household fail to open themselves to
the cleansing fire of God’s love and, therefore, fail to live in
union with God. The result is disunity, at least on the deepest and
truest level. God is not the cause of disunity; sin is. When one
person is united to God and another is immersed in a life of sin,
true spiritual unity is not possible. Of course the two might still
share some common interests and might even superficially get along
each day, but there will never be an experience of authentic
spiritual friendship and communion if God is absent from one or
both hearts.
When Jesus says that He has come to establish division within a
household, He is simply pointing out that there will indeed be a
division within a household when all are not united to God.
Additionally, Jesus is warning us that if someone within our
household tries to draw us into a life of sin with them, that
person’s invitation must be rejected. And when that happens, that
rejection is often experienced as a rejection of the person and
results in even greater disunity. The bottom line is that it is not
possible to be authentically united in sin or any form of
lie.
Reflect, today, upon the deepest spiritual desire you have. If you
are honest with yourself, you will discover that this deepest
desire in your heart is the desire for love. We are made to give
and receive love. First, this desire is fulfilled by opening
ourselves to the love of God. When that happens, we will be able to
share God’s love with others and receive God’s love from them.
Nothing in life could be more fulfilling than this.
Most merciful Lord, You came to unite all people in Your love,
but when Your love is rejected we live in disunity. Please come to
me and dwell more fully within me so that Your presence in my life
will not only bring about a spiritual communion with You, but also
with those who share this same love. Jesus, I trust in
You.
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