DIVISION

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 29 Thursday in Ordinary Time is, “Division”.

TODAY’S GOSPEL

Today’s gospel - on first hearing - evoked an, “Oh no!” from me.

Oh no - here’s Jesus - saying, “Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth?  No, I tell you, but rather division.”

Then Jesus  talks about division in families: three against two and two against three.  A father will be divided against his son and a son against his father, a mother against her daughter and a daughter against  her mother, a mother-in-law her daughter-in-law and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”

Down through the ages did scribes - monks  -  printers - doing the Book of Kells or the Lindisfarne scriptures - or the Guttenberg Bible - or any transcriber of the Gospels - say the same, “Oh no!” upon coming to this wall of words - a wall that divides people from people.  Did they say, “What about those other words Jesus told us about forgiveness - for example forgiving 70 times 7 times and bringing peace to the rooms we enter?”

STEPPING BACK

Stepping back, sitting back, pondering these words of Jesus, after saying, “Oh no!”  I said, “Oh yes, there is plenty of family division - church division - political division.”

Next I said, “You were taught  all these Gospel texts were put there to deal with stuff in Christian communities two and three generations after Jesus.

Next I said, “And we need to deal with division - and disagreements - and inner fights - just as every generation of Christians have to.”

I love to quote the saying, “The greatest sin is our inability to accept the otherness of the other person.”

I like it when the pope follows my opinions.  I don’t like these folks who don’t like Pope Francis.  And I would like this pope and the next pope to make significant changes in the church - as long as they are liberal..

And I realize there are lots of people who will have problems with me when I’m made pope.

WHERE I NEED TO CHANGE

I need to walk in other’s shoes and figure out where they are coming from when I discover they differ from me.

I need to talk to others who will challenge me to see where I am coming from.

I need to read, talk, dig into - so as the figure out the why of divisions.

We were just talking the other day about two Redemptorists and one guy says about a guy who was a whiner - he couldn’t accept Vatican II.

CONCLUSION

So there’s differences and divisions -  and we all need to deal with them. Amen. 

We need to learn to meet with each other - as you’ll hear in the 2^nd Canon for reconciliation which I’ll use at this Mass.