Daily Mass Readings 10/23/2014 or This is War Christian Soldiers! Now Get out There and Establish a University System!

"Jesus said to his disciples:
“I have come to set the earth on fire,
and how I wish it were already blazing!
There is a baptism with which I must be baptized,
and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!
Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth?
No, I tell you, but rather division." -Lk. 12:49-51

Thursday of the Twenty-ninth Week of Ordinary Time

Oftentimes, people think of Jesus as a pacifist who would never want to ruffle anyone's feathers. But this passage to his disciples lets them know he did not come here to be a pushover. Jesus had a message of repenting, turning away from sin and toward the Lord. People were either going to accept it or reject it. Much like today, the acceptance or rejection of Jesus' message would cause divisions. Proclaiming yourself a Christian shortly after the resurrection was very likely to lead to your demise. Martyrs died for the faith with joy and courage, sometimes using their own blood to write 'Credo' in the sand as their last act for Christ. The division he promised was not a glorious battle, but more often a glorious martyrdom.

It must be said, however, that these were people with their hearts ablaze with the Holy Spirit. In our time there is also religious extremism. Putting aside those Christians who claim persecution because of not so friendly comment sections on social media, we cannot forget that people are still actually being killed for their faith. As a matter of fact, several sources concur that more Christians died because of their faith in the twentieth century than in all the previous nineteen centuries combined. I am in no way going to try to white wash the fact that my own church has some dark periods, but for centuries now the extremists from my church have also been passionate about spreading their message. Their tactics are best summed up like this:

 "Every single day the Catholic Church feeds, houses, and clothes more people, takes care of more sick people, visits more prisoners, and educates more people than any other institution on the face of the earth could ever hope to." - Matthew Kelly

Jesus expresses disappointment that his followers are not already blazing with the passion of the Holy Spirit. Surely he must have known what was truly possible when people put his mission, his call, his desire for them before all else.

God Bless,

P.D.O.