Gospel LK 12:49-53

Jesus said to his disciples:

“I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!  There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished! 

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

 From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three;

     a father will be divided against his son and a son against his father,
     a mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother,
     a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”

There is no greater pain than the pain that can be inflicted by family.  The most painful separations are those which involve irreconcilable differences in our families, especially those between parents, children and siblings.  I used to ask The Lord, “why?”  At that moment I felt the most anguish, confusion and disbelief, The Lord placed these words on my broken heart.

“Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.” Matthew 10:34..

Each separation is a sharing in the passion of Christ.  I weep with him in the garden…I am unfairly judged, spat on, mocked, beaten, degraded, lashed…my flesh torn and ripped..I am left feeling weak and abandoned…misunderstood and lied about… I experience the final acceptance of the reality and resign all control and finally rest completely and totally in the Lord.  My Father in heaven does not forsake me, just as He did not forsake Jesus, His son.

My trust is in The Lord and His promise of salvation…and the day when He will wash away every tear…

“I am the resurrection and the life says The Lord, whoever believes in me, will never die, but have eternal life.”  John 11:25

Our reward is in heaven, not on this earth.  Every painful separation is an opportunity to share in the Passion of Christ.  Experiencing the pain and being unshaken in faith is an opportunity for grace.  Jesus, “your grace is sufficient for me.”