A Homily to be Preached on Sunday 19th August 2007

Homily – 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year C) (Readings)

We have an unsettling Gospel today… Christ’s words are pretty scary. He tells us of a fire that is to come. He warns us that he comes to bring division, rather than peace. He speaks of families divided against each other. It doesn’t really sound like Good News, but these are words that we need to hear if we are to make sense of the Gospel and of the world around us.
The Alternatives
It is a mistake to believe anyone who promises us a quick-fix, enlightenment without effort or pleasure without any strings attached. You’ll find that kind of promise easily enough. The drug-peddler will offer you a high without any ill-effects. Advertisers will try to sell you a life-style where all our problems can be solved by spending money. New age religion pushes guilt-free spiritual highs, whilst brushing the realities of sin, death and the need to love one's neighbour under the carpet.
The Realism of Christ
Christ doesn’t do that. He’s realistic. He brings us the fire of the Holy Spirit to free us from our sins and to transform the unjust world around us, but doesn’t hide the fact that this liberation, this transformation isn’t always going to be an easy process. So great and so urgent was this work of salvation that He underwent the Cross to accomplish it. It should therefore be no surprise that our vocation as Christians, our attempt to welcome this salvation into our lives will lead to struggle and conflict – both with ourselves and with the world around us. Can we really claim to have received the fire of the Holy Spirit if we do not feel the need to struggle with our own sins?
Looking at the World
I’m sure too that many of you look around with confusion and dismay at many of the changes that are happening in Ireland today. Society seems to be becoming more and more hostile to Gospel values. It is therefore clear that being a Christian will increasingly mean standing apart from mainstream opinion. This affects everyone, but we should particularly think about the difficulties that our young people face – for them to follow Christ is to enter into a very clear conflict with the society and values around them.
Not a Reason for Despair
But these struggles are not a reason to lose faith. It is when we become satisfied with ourselves and the society around us that we should become worried that perhaps the fire of the Holy Spirit has been extinguished within us. We will not find perfection in ourselves or in the world around us in this life. However, there is comfort for us in the Letter to the Hebrews. No matter how bleak things look, no matter how much we are tempted to give up the fight, there is always the example and presence of Christ. We are told,

Let us not lose sight of Jesus, who leads us in our faith and brings it to
perfection: for the sake of the joy which was still in the future, he endured
the cross, disregarding the shamefulness of it, and from now on has taken his
place at the right of God's throne. Think of the way he stood such opposition
from sinners and then you will not give up for want of courage.

We are not saved despite the struggles and trials we undergo, but because of them.