August 14, 2022
20th Sunday Ordinary C
On Thursday night, the sky was clear. Light was streaming into my room. The source of light was a magnificent full moon. A “supermoonâ€! Supermoons occur when the orbit of the moon is at its nearest point to the earth – thus making the moon extra-large and bright from the earth’s perspective. This supermoon (#4 thus far this year) is named the “Sturgeon Supermoon†by Native Americans after the sturgeon fish that is biting in the Great Lakes and Lake Chaplain at this time of the year. The fish is called “sturgeon†a word meaning “stirrerâ€. The large fish, when looking for food, stirs up the mud and silt on the bottom of the lake. Today, in our Gospel, Jesus catches our attention (like a supermoon) and stirs us up (like a sturgeon) with his shocking words.
“Do you think I have come to establish peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.†These are shocking words but less surprising if we recall the prophesy of Simeon to Mary, the mother of Jesus, at his presentation as a baby at the temple, “Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted…â€
Jesus defines his own mission as “coming to set fire on earth.†“Fire†in the Bible is a symbol of judgment and the Holy Spirit. Jesus does not sugarcoat his message. Families and households will be divided over Jesus’ insistence that loyalty to him is more essential than blood ties. Jesus causes scandal with his association with public sinners, his questioning the authority of religious leaders, his critique of the wealthy, his empathy for the poor, his inclusion of women, and his disregard for social norms.
People do find the teaching of Jesus disruptive and a threat to their way of life. Opposition to Jesus will intensify and harden. It is the fate of prophets who speak truth to power like Jeremiah in our first reading. There is a cost and price to pay. Jeremiah is lowered into a cistern “stuck in mud†removed from the public forum, his voice silenced.
The Gospel of Jesus is not easy or comfortable; it is challenging and demanding and, in its call for personal conversion and societal change it can be divisive and confrontational. Consider the Church’s teaching on the sanctity of human life in the womb. As Pope Emeritus Benedict notes, “Truth does not come cheap. It makes demands and it also burns.â€
All of us are called to balance God’s love and mercy with God’s commandments and justice. True peacekeeping comes with suffering. If we aim to have no conflict, the Gospel will have no impact on the world. G. K. Chesterton puts it succinctly, “We do not want, as the newspapers say, a Church that will move with the world. We want a Church that will move the world.â€
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19th Sunday Ordinary Time C
