20th Sunday in
Ordinary Time
Cycle C
August 18, 2013 4:00pm,
9:30 and 11:00am
Saint
Margaret Parish, Bel Air
I Dislike This Gospel
If I
were to give you a list of my favorite gospel passages, today’s would not be on
it.
It is
not one of my favorites. I probably dislike
it and I have two reasons for this: 1) it contradicts and 2) it misleads.
Why? It Contradicts
To
begin with, it seems to contradict the rest of the gospel.
Jesus
consistently says that he comes for peace and unity. He wants us to have peace and unity with one
another.
Even in
our liturgy, we say, “The peace of the
Lord be with you always.” We don’t
say, “The conflict and division of the
Lord be with you.”
So, we
have to ask: what does Jesus really mean here?
Apparently the answer is in the meaning of the words “fire,” “baptism,” and “division.”
“Fire”
is a Scriptural image for choice. So
Jesus is saying that sometimes, maybe often we will have to make choices
whether to follow his way or not.
We will
have to choose right from wrong. This
will be true for all of us – for business people in their transactions with customers
or employees, for priests in the way we do our ministry.
And
then when Jesus speaks of a “baptism with
which we must be baptized,” he is not talking about a baptism with
water. Instead, in this context “baptism” means taking a bath in
suffering.
The
idea is that some of the choices we have to make will be hard. For example, we may have to be silent or try
to redirect a conversation that is negatively stereotyping people
And
then, Jesus tops it all off by saying that there will be “division.” This really
flows from what he has already said.
Sometimes
our choices to do the right thing will separate us from others.
For
example, our youth may have to say no to alcohol or drugs or sex and this may separate
them from their peers.
So, I
guess when I really understand this passage correctly, it does make sense. It does not really contradict the rest of
what Jesus says.
Why? It Misleads
But, I still
have a second reason why it is not one of my favorites: it can be misleading.
This
passage might lead some people to justify a kind of in-your-face Christianity
or in-your-face Catholicism. Some people
might use it to justify a harsh and divisive approach.
I think
we see some of this today in what is often called the “culture wars.” There is sometimes an unnecessary
berating of what is called the “secular” – a berating that does not recognize the
complexity of the relationship between the “sacred” and the “secular” in
American society.
Sometimes
we also see this in-your-face approach on placards being carried alongside the
road, sometimes about the important issue of human life, but with divisive and offensive
messages. Pope Francis recently gave
some guidance to us priests that tells us something about all of this.
Pope
Francis was speaking about the situation where a couple brings a baby to be
baptized. He was referring to situations
where the parents are not married or are not married in the Church.
There
have been incidents where priests have refused to baptize a baby in these
circumstances. The Pope simply says: by
all means, baptize the baby.
Welcome the parents, bring the baby into God’s family,
encourage and work with the mother and father to be good parents and to share
faith with their child. That is the
positive, embracing approach of Jesus of Nazareth.
Refusing to baptize only creates unnecessary
division and will probably alienate the couple from the Church forever. Pope Francis also applies this to other areas
of our ministry and, in effect, tells us not to use today’s gospel to justify
an in-your-face approach.
Conclusion
So, there we are.
A challenging gospel passage today, one that I at first
glance dislike! But on second thought, a
passage that I also embrace!
