In today’s Gospel, Jesus’ words may be disturbing to us: “Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, not peace but division “. These words seem at face value to be a contradiction with the Jesus who came to gather the nations to Himself. At His birth the angels sang: “Glory to God in the highest of heaven and peace on the earth!” At Holy Mass we hear, “I leave you My peace, I give you My peace“. Does it seem to us that the words of Jesus in today’s Gospel are a contradiction? Absolutely not! All the statements of Jesus are profoundly true. We must realize that Jesus and only Jesus is the great builder of peace, and Jesus calls us all to a life of peace. But be careful, the peace that Christ brings us is best seen in relation to our battle against evil ~ against the devil himself. This battle is the reason that Jesus tells us in today’s Gospel that He came into the world to bring division instead of peace. This division is in the ranks of evil, the unrest is the uprooting of the devil’s power. Many times, we think that peace is the time without a war, or a period of tranquility; yet, this is not true in the spiritual sense. The devil always fights. In the words of St. Peter: “your enemy, the devil, is a roaring lion that goes around looking for someone to devour.” We must fight against evil if we want peace. The peace that Jesus brings us is the fruit of a victory against evil that seeks to grow in our hearts. The peace that Jesus brings us is the serenity that comes from knowing that we are children of God. We must resist the temptations of evil and find in Christ the peace that this world cannot give us!
Yours in Christ,
Fr. Wayne