Courage to oppose wrongdoing; remember Mary's Assumption

The gospel message of this 2oth Sunday is puzzling. In one part of the Scriptures, Jesus Christ promises peace: “T leave you peace, my peace I give to you.”

- FR. BEL SAN LUIS, SVD

But in this Sunday gospel, he says, “I have come to bring not peace but division” (Lk 12,51). Is that not a contradiction?

No, there is no contradiction. The core of Jesus’ teachings has always been love, unity, and peace.

What the Lord means is that God’s peace should not be the kind that accepts compromises with evil or tolerates injustices and wrongdoings. Moreover, a Christian must exemplify this “peace” even at the cost of antagonizing and parting ways with relatives. “A family will be divided: Fathers against their sons, mothers against daughters...” (Lk 12,53).

This message is vividly illustrated in the story of Thomas More (1477-1535) whose life was immortalized in Robert Bolt’s multi-awarded movie, “A Man for All Seasons.”

A devout layman and brilliant lawyer, Thomas was appointed High Chancellor of England by King Henry VIII. At a crucial point, Thomas was made to choose between friendship and loyalty to the king or his faith and conscience.

He chose the latter when he opposed King Henry’s illegitimate union with Anne Boleyn and refused to recognize him as supreme head of the Church in England.