15TH MONDAY HOMILY OF THE ORDINARY TIME — YEAR A
HOMILY THEME: ANYONE WHO GIVES MY FOLLOWER WATER WILL BE REWARDED
BY: Fr. Ernest Cross
Exod 1:8-14, 22; Psalm 124:1-8; Matt 10:34–11:1
Today’s Gospel presents us with one of the most challenging passages in the Bible. This passage contains words that seem to contradict our Lord’s message of peace and reconciliation. “Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword.” We need to carefully evaluate these words demand, for they reveal the profound cost of authentic discipleship.
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Christ speaks here not of physical violence, but of the sword of truth that pierces through the comfortable compromises of our fallen world. The peace He offers is not the false peace of moral relativism or spiritual indifference, but the true peace that comes only through conversion and alignment with God’s will. This divine peace often creates tension with worldly values, even within our most intimate relationships.
The “sword” Christ brings is His Word—sharp as a two-edged blade, dividing truth from falsehood, light from darkness. When we truly encounter Christ, we cannot remain neutral. His presence demands a response that may separate us from those who reject His call. This is the paschal mystery lived out in our daily existence: dying to worldly attachments to rise with Christ.
Notice how Jesus speaks of the most fundamental human bonds: father and son, mother and daughter. The Gospel does not despise these relationships but places them in proper order. Christ must be first, not because He is jealous of human love, but because only in Him can all our relationships find their ultimate meaning and fulfillment.
The challenge for us today is to recognize where Christ’s sword must cut through our own compromises. Are we willing to follow Him even when it costs us social acceptance, professional advancement, or family harmony? Do we have the courage to live as authentic Christians in a culture that increasingly rejects Christian values?
This is not a call to unnecessary conflict, but to the prophetic witness that every baptized Christian must give. We are called to be signs of contradiction in a world that has forgotten its true destiny. This requires what Saint John Paul II called “the courage of faith”—the willingness to stand for truth even when we stand alone.
God bless you.
Amen.
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