We know from reading the gospel that Jesus teaches love, forgiveness, and reconciliation. So our reflection verse today might surprise us. However, it shouldn’t. Why?
God’s call to love one another as we love him inherently calls for transformation in our lives. This transformation can change everything, and that can create tension within the individual and those around them. This is the division Jesus speaks about.
He teaches us to forgive when we want revenge, share when we want to keep everything, and welcome people others push aside. Those choices can disrupt familiar ways of living and cause others to move away from us or even challenge our new view of life.
Pope Benedict explained that Christ’s peace means more than the absence of conflict. Faithfulness to God can bring misunderstanding and opposition, yet Christians must keep working for peace by overcoming evil with good.
Imagine a family gathered around a table. Someone begins making cruel remarks about a person who is different from them. Others laugh. But one person quietly says, “That person deserves kindness, too.” The room grows uncomfortable. Someone becomes angry.
Speaking with love has disturbed the room’s peace. Yet the earlier calm depended on everyone accepting another person’s humiliation. Following Jesus may require us to interrupt that pattern while continuing to care for everyone at the table.
Jesus warns us about the cost of following him. This passage gives us no permission to become harsh or to treat disagreement as proof that we are right. His call to love requires us to examine our own hearts and ask: Am I accepting the cost of loving like Jesus, or am I making others pay the price of my anger and pride?
