Today's Gospel

Heal Your Division

Welcome back to Radical & Relevant. Welcome back to our exploration of the genius of Jesus' teachings in the gospel. Remember, each day we're looking for a word, a phrase, or an idea to anchor our day. Today's reading from the Gospel of Luke 12:49-53. "I came to cast fire upon the earth." Jesus said, "And would that it had already kindled. I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how I am constrained until it is accomplished. Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For henceforth in one house, there will be five divided. Three against two and two against three. They will be divided. Father against son, and son against father. Mother against daughter, and daughter against her mother. Mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law." And so we see this division that Jesus is talking about. We see this division all around our society. And as we wander further and further from God individually and collectively, there becomes more and more division. Because in God there is unity. And when our life is unified with God, then there's integrity in our life. There's authenticity in our life. And when we separate ourselves from God in different ways or in different parts of our lives, then we lose that integrity, we lose that authenticity. And so Jesus talks today about division. And every family's got it, right? Every family's got their story, and the story maybe is different today than it was 5 years ago or 10 years ago. It'd be different next year than it is this year. Because relationships are complex and families are complex. And they're a real challenge to our virtue. They're a real challenge to our love. But they're also an invitation to growing virtue, an invitation to growing love. And so it's easy to look out into the world and see all the division. But today's reading is an invitation to look within and say, "Okay, where is the division within me? In my heart, how is my heart divided? Part of my heart for God? Part of my heart against God?" We look at the actions of our lives. How are the actions of our lives divided? Some of them for God, with God. Some of them against God, not with God. Where is the division within us? And where is the division within our lives? And how are we being called to address that division? We may be called to be a peacemaker. We may be called to have a courageous conversation, a difficult conversation. I wrote recently about the idea that at most times in our lives, there is a difficult conversation that we're called to have that we are putting off. You're putting off a difficult conversation. Maybe today's call is to have that difficult conversation. Maybe today's call is to be a peacemaker. But let's try to heal the division within us, heal the division within our lives by allowing Jesus to take up more of our lives and to be that healing. Have a great day. And remember, don't just be yourself. Be the-very-best-version-of-yourself. All that God created you to be.