“Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth?
No, I tell you, but rather division.”

luke 12:51

Luke 12:49-53

Reflection

Jesus tells his disciples that he has come to set the earth on fire. He has come to bring division, where households will be divided – sons against fathers and mothers against daughters.

It might seem contradictory that Jesus wanted to bring division to the world, not peace. But what he is telling us is that his message, the truth, will divide people. Families will split over his teachings, some believing and others not. Most of us have experienced this in some fashion.

Jesus gives each of us inner peace. When we stay true to our faith and follow Christ, we encounter a joy and peace that only God can give. The world doesn’t experience this because it doesn’t follow Christ. It is easy to see the division that is caused by Jesus, but we must always stay on the winning side – God’s. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. While we may not experience true peace on earth, we have the opportunity to take part in it in heaven.

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Saint of the Day

St. John of Capistrano: 1386 – 1456

“Those who are called to the table of the Lord must glow with the brightness that comes from the good example of a praiseworthy and blameless life…. The brightness of their wisdom must make them like the light of the world that brings light to others.” St. John Capistrano