If I had a dollar for every time someone said to me “father, why does the Church have so many rules? Why can’t we just all love each other and get along” I would be a rich man. While there are many different responses to this question, the main problem with this statement is that it fails to identify in what source we find our unity. For example, do we get along by all agreeing to follow what the majority believe is best? Certainly majority rule does not work and history is filled with examples of people going along with bad things like the legalization of slavery and even the rise of the Nazi party. In short, if we want unity, we need to share a common source of unity and as Christians we know that this source of unity must be in Christ Himself.
While the psalmist teaches us that it is good when brothers dwell in unity,[1] simply going along to get along can quickly get us into trouble. Nowhere in the scriptures does Jesus instruct us to simply get along, rather as we hear in today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us that he has not come to establish peace on this earth but rather division. Why, because as the Second Vatican Council teaches “all men are called to belong to new people of God, wherefore this people, while remaining one and only one, is to be spread throughout the whole world and must exist in all ages, so that the decree of God’s will may be fulfilled … It was for this purpose that God sent His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, that he might be teacher, king, and priest of all, the head of the new and universal people of the sons of God.”[2] Said in another way Jesus came to set the world on fire because He has come to call all of us to dwell in unity with Him.
In St. John’s Gospel, Jesus teaches us that he has come that we “might have life and have it more abundantly.”[3] Thus, when these two passages are read together we see that Jesus came to set the world on fire because he wants us to have life abundantly. So then, if we want the end to division, if we want true and lasting peace, we must, as the author of Hebrews teaches in our second reading, “keep our eyes fixed on Jesus.” Like a sick patient who must often endure some pain to bring about healing, so too, if we want true unity, we must be willing to endure some suffering for the sake of the truth.
I find it striking that Jesus says that He has come to set the world on fire. Fire is one of the fundamental elements which the ancients needed to provide warmth and cooking so they could stay alive. Yet, fire also has the power to cause serious destruction. Fire, which is necessary for survival has both the power to purify and the power to destroy. Think for example of a wildfire. It can quickly sweep across a forest with devastating force, leaving nothing untouched, yet from the ash a renewed and healthier forest emerges. In the same way that physical fire can bring pain and destruction, it also cleanses and restores. So, it is with the fire of God’s love; intense and consuming, yet ultimately purifying and life-giving.
While there may be a temptation for us to adopt a theology of nice, Jesus warns us against this trap in today’s Gospel. Jesus wants us to have the life that only He can give and so we cannot compromise along the way. The good news is that as we cling more faithfully to Christ, the more truth, beauty, and goodness, which alone bring unity can shine through us. This is seen time and time again in the scriptures and even in our society today. Take for example the witness of St. John the Baptist, whom Harrod had imprisoned and even killed for holding fast to the truth of the faith. Yet, while Harrod had John imprisioned and was willing to kill him, he was also “deeply distressed”[4] in killing John for as much as John’s message challenged Harrod’s lifestyle Harrod “liked to listen to him”[5] because John was faithful to the Truth. So today, as many Catholic colleges and high schools are struggling to attract students, those schools that are faithful to the gospel are bursting at the seams.
Pope Paul VI, once appropriately said, “if you want peace work for justice”[6] and in the same spirit we could say, if you want unity seek the truth. Or in the words of St. Catherine of Sienna, “if you are what you ought to be, you will set fire to all Italy.”[7] Our call as Christians is to be followers of Christ who is the way, the truth, and the life. Might this bring some division? I’m sure that it will, but without fidelity to Christ there can be not true peace. Christ is the solution and not us and so let us take heart our Lord’s teachings, and in the words of today’s second reading persevere in running the race that lies before with our eyes fixed on Jesus, confident that the fire he brings will purify us for eternal life.
[1] Psalm 133:1
[2] Second Vatican Council, Lumen Gentium [Dogmatic Constitution on the Church], November 21, 1964, §13.
[3] John 10:10
[4] Mark 6: 26
[5] Mark 6:20
[6] Message of His Holiness Pope Paul VI for the Celebration of the Day of Peace (1 January 1972), https://www.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/messages/peace/documents/hf_p-vi_mes_19711208_v-world-day-for-peace.html.
[7] Catharina. Saint Catherine of Siena as Seen in Her Letters. United Kingdom: J.M. Dent & Company, 1905. Pg 305.
Through The Cross To Light 