HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE 29TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME OF YEAR II
THEME: Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.
BY: Fr. Diotacious Chikontwe SMA.
HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OCTOBER 20 2022
*READINGS OF THE DAY*
Ephesians 3:14-21
Ps 32:1-2,4-5,11-12,18-19
Luke 12:49-53
*LITURGICAL COLOUR*
GREEN
*FROM THE FIRST READING*
In today’s first reading, we find that wonderful phrase of Saint Paul, ‘knowing the love of Christ, which is beyond all knowledge’. On the one hand, Paul prays that we would come to know the breadth and the length, the height and the depth, of the love of Christ. On the other hand, he declares that the love of Christ is beyond all knowledge. Paul seems to be saying that in this earthly life we will never know the immensity of Christ’s love fully.
*FROM THE GOSPEL READING*
It is strange to hear Jesus say in today’s gospel reading that he did not come to bring peace but rather division. However, the gospel as a whole suggests that we have to understand Jesus to mean that he did not come with the explicit intention of causing division but, rather, that division was the consequence of his coming. As Simeon prophesied to Mary, in the temple of Jerusalem, her child was destined ‘for the falling and rising of many in Israel’. Some would accept him and rise, others would reject him and fall.
*CONCLUSION*
Dear brethrens, let us remember that, Jesus is the Prince of Peace, yet in this passage, we are told that he came not to establish peace but division. The peace Christ brings is the fruit of knowing the truth, living in that truth, and accepting his love. When people reject truth, conflicts and divisions occur. Some of the divisiveness is relational, as described in this passage, but we can also experience restlessness and anxiety interiorly.
I wish you a Blessed Thursday.