October 23, 2025 – Thursday of the 29th week (odd years)
H O M I L Y
Love of neighbor is central to Jesus' message. And when we think of love or charity, we think of unity. So it is not without surprise, even shock, that we hear Jesus tell us that He did not come to bring peace to the earth, but fire and division.
When the Word of God became man, He came to be a bridge not only between God and humanity, but also between human beings. In the Old Testament tradition, for Israel, as indeed for all other peoples of the time, family and tribal ties were extremely important. This was undoubtedly a condition for survival. A person owed everything to his or her family, and these ties extended to a whole series of concentric circles of the extended family and, ultimately, to the clan, the tribe and the nation. In a civilization that was almost constantly at war, a person had to love his or her own and hate all others. All capacity for communion was reserved for the family.
Jesus wanted to do away with this division. He had come to save everyone; He loved everyone, and He wanted to extend His love beyond His family and loved ones. He invites us to do the same. Family ties, and also those of the nation, are important; however, they are subordinate to something more important: namely, the love of God and His call to universal love, as well as the need to establish the kingdom of God, which is a kingdom of love.
Faced with the demands of the Gospel message and situations of injustice and oppression, each person must assume his or her own responsibilities. If some of our loved ones reject us because we have chosen universal love out of fidelity to the Gospel, we must accept this rejection, in communion with Christ who was rejected by His own for the same reason. It is this division—unwanted but accepted as a consequence of a choice—that Jesus speaks of. This is what He means when He says that He has come to bring fire to the earth—a fire that purifies and gives birth to new life. It is also a fire that brings discernment and judgement. Let us allow ourselves to be purified by this fire.
Christian love does not claim or seek to eliminate differences between individuals and groups; rather, it seeks to build bridges between cultures, religions, civilizations and people. The originality of the Gospel lies in the commandment to love without limits – to love all human beings, as they are, in their very diversity.
Armand VEILLEUX