Thursday of the Twenty-Ninth Week in Ordinary Time
The Lord wants to shake up the world in a good way. He says in our gospel today, “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.” One would think that division would be caused by the devil, but the point of this division is to see who will be faithful to God and who is not. The baptism of fire that he talks about is the baptism of his passion. God sees the world and is in anguish to see those who turn away from him and his word.
We compromise the truth (Jesus) so we won’t offend anyone. We need to present the truth of God by the way we love someone and not by condemning people. How do we do that? With joy! If people see the joy that we have, hopefully it will be contagious so that others will see and be united to us and not divided by the way of the devil.
Reflection by Br. Maximilian Burkhart, OSB
Posted in Articles for Ordinary Time, Daily Reflections