Thursday, October 21, 2010

Come to bring fire

The text today from Luke’s Gospel in the Roman Catholic Lectionary initially seems to be a contradiction of Jesus message of peace and love. Looking around at the conflict which surrounds the battle between secularism and spirituality and the debates between fundamentalist and atheist there  is truth in the observation that division results from the consideration of the Good News of an intimate relationship with the Divine. The text points to these divisions occurring within the family unit. When the debate is distant, in the media, it can be treated as “news’. The discussion within families can be divisive and ironically the efforts to maintain the dialogue can be seen as “Christian action”. Richard Rohr, the Franciscan theologian, might see the necessary tension between concepts as the only path to move forward in understanding. The other point of view is never won over by argument or force. The opening of the mind to possibilities is the first step in conflict resolution. The possibilities of the life in communion with the Divine are expressed eloquently in Paul’s prayer from the letter to the Ephesians which is the first text for today.

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