I am sure that I have never met anyone who would identify the Gospel passage we read today as one of his or her favorites. Because we live in a time when division is very evident in the world and even in the Church, today’s Gospel message seems a little discouraging – maybe a lot discouraging.
But Jesus’ statement of fact is not meant for discouragement, but instead it gives us an opportunity to reinforce our reliance on God. We who love God and follow Jesus already understand the source of division – not Christ himself, but the choice of some not to follow Jesus. We bear the Gospel values of love, the truth of God’s word, the dignity of human life, humility, obedience to God’s law, trust in God rather than in ourselves, and rejection of the idols of wealth and power. By living out those values, we give witness to the Gospel.
St. Paul gives us strong words of encouragement today in the passage from the Letter to the Ephesians. He speaks of the ways in which God has equipped us to handle our call to bring God’s reign to the world. He prays that we might be strengthened with power through the Spirit with Christ dwelling in our hearts.
Today we celebrate the memorial of Pope St. John Paul II, one of the most influential people of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. He had grown up under the slavery of atheistic communism as it was imposed on the Polish people. Rather than let that discourage him, he used his gifts to become one of the most influential men in the world and someone who is regarded as the one who dismantled communism in Eastern Europe.
St. John Paul II constantly reminded us of the words of the Scriptures: “Be Not Afraid.”
Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator