Tag: free will

Homily for the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)

Politicians frequently claim to be uniters, not dividers.  If you wanted proof, therefore, that Jesus was not a politician, look no further than today’s Gospel: “Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth?  No, I tell you, but rather division.”

Political promises of unity, of course, come cheaply; sometimes they simply mean, “If you disagree with me, I’ll accuse you of being a divider.”  In today’s Gospel reading, however, Jesus makes a move never recommended by any political consultant: he preemptively accuses himself of bringing division.  Other than the desire to put centuries of future homilists in a very awkward position, why would Jesus do this?

Continue reading “Not peace, but division”