First reading Romans 6:19-23
Now you are set free from sin, and slaves to God
If I may use human terms to help your natural weakness: as once you put your bodies at the service of vice and immorality, so now you must put them at the service of righteousness for your sanctification.
When you were slaves of sin, you felt no obligation to righteousness, and what did you get from this? Nothing but experiences that now make you blush, since that sort of behaviour ends in death. Now, however, you have been set free from sin, you have been made slaves of God, and you get a reward leading to your sanctification and ending in eternal life. For the wage paid by sin is death; the present given by God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Responsorial Psalm 1:1-4,6
Happy the man who has placed his trust in the Lord.
Happy indeed is the man
who follows not the counsel of the wicked;
nor lingers in the way of sinners
nor sits in the company of scorners,
but whose delight is the law of the Lord
and who ponders his law day and night.
Happy the man who has placed his trust in the Lord.
He is like a tree that is planted
beside the flowing waters,
that yields its fruit in due season
and whose leaves shall never fade;
and all that he does shall prosper.
Happy the man who has placed his trust in the Lord.
Not so are the wicked, not so!
For they like winnowed chaff
shall be driven away by the wind:
for the Lord guards the way of the just
but the way of the wicked leads to doom.
Happy the man who has placed his trust in the Lord.
Gospel Luke 12:49-53
How I wish it were blazing already!
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘I have come to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were blazing already! There is a baptism I must still receive, and how great is my distress till it is over!
‘Do you suppose that I am here to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on a household of five will be divided: three against two and two against three; the father divided against the son, son against father, mother against daughter, daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law, daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’
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Fire and division
The fire that Jesus spoke about in today’s gospel is the fire of God’s love that brings warmth and comfort as well as burns away all that is not leading us to live an honest and loving life. The fire of God’s love is also the fuel that will move and propel us towards others and work for their good, especially for the poor and suffering. With the blazing fire of God’s love within, Jesus lived His life and mission with a passion to the point that He died on the cross because some people felt threatened by Him.
Jesus calls us to follow Him by allowing the blazing fire of God’s love to always burn within us. Some will be attracted to it, and others will resist it. When we choose to live a life of love, justice and solidarity, we might face anger, disagreement and even rejection by our family members and friends. Are we ready to face the divisions caused by our following of Jesus? May we experience the fire of God’s love in our hearts today.
Question for reflection:
Do I allow the fire of God’s love within me to guide me in living a life of love?
Do I allow the fire of God’s love within me to guide me in living a life of love?
