The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite contemplation of our reaction to the persecution and opposition that arises when we act as disciples of Jesus.
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| Cloud of witnesses |
The passage from the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah describes the circumstances of division that led to his abandonment in a muddy cistern.
* [38:4] He is weakening the resolve: lit., “he weakens the hands.” One of the Lachish ostraca (cf. note on 34:7) makes the same claim against the princes in Jerusalem.1
Psalm 40 offers praise for being raised up from the swampy underworld to firm earth where one can praise God.
* [Psalm 40] A thanksgiving (Ps 40:2–13) has been combined with a lament (Ps 40:14–17) that appears also in Ps 70. The psalmist describes the rescue in spatial terms—being raised up from the swampy underworld to firm earth where one can praise God (Ps 40:2–4). All who trust God will experience like protection (Ps 40:5–6)! The Psalm stipulates the precise mode of thanksgiving: not animal sacrifice but open and enthusiastic proclamation of the salvation just experienced (Ps 40:7–11). A prayer for protection concludes (Ps 40:12–17).2
The reading from Hebrews identifies God as our Father ( corrected link http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/bible/hebrews/12:1 ) and our journey with Jesus amid a crowd of witnesses.
* [12:1–13] Christian life is to be inspired not only by the Old Testament men and women of faith (Heb 12:1) but above all by Jesus. As the architect of Christian faith, he had himself to endure the cross before receiving the glory of his triumph (Heb 12:2). Reflection on his sufferings should give his followers courage to continue the struggle, if necessary even to the shedding of blood (Heb 12:3–4). Christians should regard their own sufferings as the affectionate correction of the Lord, who loves them as a father loves his children.3
The Gospel from Luke, presents how preaching Jesus message may cause division.
* [12:49–53] Jesus’ proclamation of the kingdom is a refining and purifying fire. His message that meets with acceptance or rejection will be a source of conflict and dissension even within families.4
Jay Carney finds himself reconsidering a Jesuit motto displayed prominently on the campus at Creighton – namely Ignatius of Loyola’s counsel to Francis Xavier to “go set the world on fire.” If “setting the world on fire” means “dividing families,” then do we really want to preach on this gospel? Jay considers his experience of the commemoration of the “Uganda Martyrs.” (22 Catholic teenagers and young adults – along with 23 Anglicans – killed in 1886 by their king, Kabaka Mwanga).
If nothing else, today’s readings remind us that the gospel is not about “niceness.” In fact, God’s prophetic call disrupts the social status quo and can even put us at odds with those closest to us. Jeremiah had been an advisor to King Zedekiah. Yet after just a little lobbying, the king leaves him to his tormentors, largely because of Jeremiah’s unpopular predictions of Jerusalem’s impending fall to Babylon. Like Jeremiah, the Psalmist finds himself in the “pit of destruction” and the “mud of the swamp,” crying out to God in classic lament form: “Lord, come to my aid! O my God, hold not back!” In a similar context of collective suffering, the writer of Hebrews exhorts his community to persevere in running the race of faith, even to the point of shedding blood. In Luke, the refining fire of Jesus’ proclamation of the kingdom of God is burning a path right through the nuclear family… We should not pray for family division. Nor should we wish for persecution or death. But may we not fear the repercussions of running where God calls us, knowing that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. 5
Don Schwager quotes “The fire of the Gospel and being baptized in the Holy Spirit,” by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD).
"We affirm that the fire that Christ sent out is for humanity's salvation and profit. May God grant that all our hearts be full of this. The fire is the saving message of the Gospel and the power of its commandments. We were cold and dead because of sin and in ignorance of him who by nature is truly God. The gospel ignites all of us on earth to a life of piety and makes us fervent in spirit, according to the expression of blessed Paul (Romans 12:11). Besides this, we are also made partakers of the Holy Spirit, who is like fire within us. We have been baptized with fire and the Holy Spirit. We have learned the way from what Christ says to us. Listen to his words: 'Truly I say to you, that except a man be born of water and spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God' (John 3:5). It is the divinely inspired Scripture's custom to give the name of fire sometimes to the divine and sacred words and to the efficacy and power which is by the Holy Spirit by which we are made fervent in spirit." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 94)6
The Word Among Us meditation on Luke 12:49-53 asks is Jesus a source of peace? Or is he a source of division?
He’s both… Divisions may be inevitable, but they don’t have to be permanent. That’s where you come in. How will you respond when those divisions manifest themselves at home? With compassion, prayer, and understanding? Or with defensiveness, arguments, and condemnation?
Jesus is the Prince of Peace because he came to bring peace to our divided hearts. And as our own divided hearts are healed, we learn how to love as he loves and how to forgive as he forgives. Only Jesus’ love and forgiveness can bring unity.7
Friar Jude Winkler relates the persecution of Jeremiah as he counsels surrender to the invading Babylonians. Hebrews calls us to die to self as a witness to our faith in Jesus. Friar Jude explains that most Christians have the opportunity to share in the “martyrdom of pinpricks”.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that the root of violence is the illusion of separation—from God, from being one with oneself and everything else, and from Being Itself. When we don’t know how to consciously live out of union (which is called love), we resort to violence, fighting anything that is not like us and that we cannot control. Contemplative practice teaches us to honor differences and also realize that we are all much more than our nationality, skin color, gender, or other labels which are all aspects of the passing and thus false self. Contemplation brings us back to our True Self, who we are in God.
I’m not telling you not to act. The Gospel offers a way to make our action sustainable and lasting over the long haul. People on the Right tend to be perpetually angry, fearful, and overly defensive, and people on the Left tend to be perpetually cynical, morally righteous, and outraged. The Gospel calls forth a refined instrument beyond these two falsehoods that can really make a difference because it is a new level of consciousness altogether. Such activists are themselves “a new creation” (Galatians 6:15) and the lightning rods of God’s transformative energy into the world.8
Fr. Dan P Horan, OFM, reflects on the topic of “A universal communion” in his YouTube series
Understanding Laudato Si EP 06: "A Universal Communion" 9
on understanding the call to people in the “Laudato Si” encyclical of Pope Francis on the care of our common home, the earth.
At this time in our journey, the climate emergency puts our need to overcome division by action as a world community to respond to the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor at the forefront. Contemplative prayer leading to “common ground” is a starting point for us.
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