Memorial of St. Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

Today's Mass Readings

We are used to Jesus being gentle and loving, a man of peace who brings peace wherever he goes. Thus, the Jesus who appears in the first part of today’s gospel is very jarring. Here Jesus says he has come not to bring peace but to bring the sword. He has come, he says, to cause divisions between people: a father from his son, a daughter from her mother, and so on. Why does Jesus say such things and what does he mean by them?

I think part of it is that everyone has a different response to the gospel, all of us see different things in it and act accordingly, and this leads to conflict. Furthermore, each of us is at a different stage in our own conversion, with some of us more converted than others, and this too can lead to conflict and division.

I think the most helpful thing that each of us can do is recognize that this division does not just exist out there in the world between people, but it is also to be found within. Each of us is a sinner. Each of us struggles to hear Christ’s word and to follow him faithfully. Each of us is tempted to turn away at times and follow another path. Each of us experiences resistance within ourselves to the gospel.

In light of this, the most important thing that we can do is foster our own conversion, to let Christ heal the divisions that exist within ourselves. The more the internal divisions within ourselves are healed the more peacefully we can bear with the challenges caused by others, and the more we can live at peace with one another.

Reflection by Fr. Aquinas Keusenkothen, OSB