Christ and Contestation

Thursday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time C-2

Entrance Antiphon Cf. Ps 17 (16):6, 8 To you I call; for you will surely heed me, O God; turn your ear to me; hear my words. Guard me as the apple of your eye; in the shadow of your wings protect me.

Collect Almighty ever‑living God, grant that we may always conform our will to yours and serve your majesty in sincerity of heart. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Scripture today: Ephesians 3:14-21; Psalm 32; Luke 12:49-53

Jesus said, I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed! Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law. (Luke 12:49-53)

Christ and Contestation One distinctive feature of the Gospel of St Luke is his narrative of the infancy of Jesus Christ. The account of Christ’s infancy by Matthew occupies some 48 verses (chapters 1 and 2). That provided by St Luke is not far short of three times this length. The infancy is obviously of great importance for St Luke, and provides a notable introduction to Christ’s person and mission. There is the grand announcement by the Angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary revealing who her Child will be. Interestingly, while the Angel speaks to her of the Child’s unique prerogatives, there is little on how he will prosecute his mission as Messiah. Again, when the Child is born an Angel appears to the shepherds and announces that a Saviour has come — he is the Messiah, the Lord. Little is given on how he will save his people. The question, then, stood — how was the Messiah to save his people? We read that “Mary retained all these things, pondering on them in her heart” (2:19). An important revelation on this was granted in the annunciation by the holy Simeon, led as he was by the Spirit of God. This Saviour who would be a light for the Gentiles and the glory of his people will be a sign that is spoken against (seemeion antilegomenon). Many will rise and many will fall because of him (2:34-35). His person and his word would, then, be the centre of storms of controversy, of agreement and opposition. He will occasion profound division and will suffer rejection, and his Mother, the first and greatest believer in him, will be thrust through by a sword in her very spirit. That is to say, he will save his people through and in suffering and rejection. This is the solemn note on which the story of Jesus Christ began, and in our Gospel today, likewise from the pen of Luke, our Lord confirms it. His mission, he says, is to bring fire to the earth — John the Baptist had stated that the One coming would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire (Luke 3:16). But for this to happen, our Lord has a baptism to undergo, and how he yearns for its completion! But it will not be a peaceful path, for it will involve contradiction, strife and division. The proclamation of the Truth will not be accepted.

Christ went freely to his death bearing witness to the truth of his person and mission. He told Pontius Pilate that it was for this that he was born, to bear witness to the truth — and in this he was the archetypal sign of contradiction. Many rose and many fell in response to his word, and his person and his word brought division. Risen from the dead, and about to ascend to his heavenly Father, he commanded his disciples to go to the whole world and make disciples of all the nations. Immediately, his Church became a sign of contradiction both in Jerusalem and beyond. Within several decades, the Empire began to notice the followers of Jesus Christ, and it became concerned. The Christians stood for one objective Truth about God, and this, it was sensed, opposed the foundations of the Empire. All were to become disciples of Jesus Christ the Lord. It was a message that could not be tolerated, and so the Empire came down on the fledgling, determined Church, just as Jerusalem and official Judaism had. It was Christ’s prediction on a much broader scale. “Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law” (Luke 12:49-53). So it has been ever since — a stand for the truth of Jesus Christ and his Church evokes opposition and even hatred. The Church insists that in her proclamation of the message of Jesus Christ the method be one of respectful dialogue. We must bear witness to revealed truth respectfully and with a spirit of listening to the other, learning from any truth which the other possesses. But division and contestation is unavoidable, and we have this on the word of Jesus Christ. Bearing witness to Jesus Christ will not be easy. The Christian must gird himself for barbs and thrusts.

The principal source of opposition and, indeed, hatred of the Christian message now is, I believe, secularism — that secularism which denies to God authority and position in everyday life and society. But the Christian must be confident in the power of Jesus Christ who is the “stronger man” who comes and overcomes the one guarding his palace (Luke 11: 21-22). I like to see this exemplified in the arrival of Pope Benedict in the United Kingdom in September 2010. His coming had been preceded by months of vituperation and opposition to him in England. His arrival silenced the cackle, and the grace of Christ accompanying his Vicar won over the realm.

(E.J.Tyler)

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A Second Reflection: (Ephesians 3:14-21)

St Paul's Prayer for the Ephesians There are numerous prayers to God in Holy Scripture, inspired prayers. The greatest of them is the Lord's Prayer, the prayer our Lord taught us to pray. There also are the Psalms and many other wonderful prayers that embody God's plan for us. Yet another wonderful prayer is that penned by Saint Paul in his letter to the Ephesians in 3: 14-21. It is a beautiful prayer that describes the fulfilment of God's plan in each one of us. Let us meditate on that prayer and make it our own, praying for ourselves and for others. Addressing his readers, St Paul prays that "Out of his infinite glory may he give you the power through his Spirit for your hidden self to grow strong, so that Christ may live in your hearts through faith". St Paul says elsewhere that this is the mystery, the mystery of God's plan hidden till now, namely, Christ in us, our hope of glory. He prays that we will be "planted in love and built on love", "until, knowing the love of Christ, which is beyond all knowledge, you are filled with the utter fullness of God."

Let us pray persistently for this grace, this divine power St Paul refers to, and for the wisdom and the will to cooperate with it in the great work of our sanctification — being filled with the fullness of God.

(E.J.Tyler)

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