20th Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)

August 18, 2019

Readings:

First Reading: Jeremiah 38: 4-6, 8-10

Psalm 40: “Lord, come to my aid.”

Second Reading: Hebrew 12: 1-4

Gospel reading according to Luke 12: 49-53

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Homily:

If we want to have some changes in our selves, in our homes, in our communities, and in our society and country, we have to set them on fire and let them be eaten by consuming fire, as an easy way of change.  Fire here refers to passion, vigor, enthusiasm, intensity and spirit.  This fire will show the hearts and souls of the faithful.  “Jesus said to his disciples, ‘I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!” (Luke 12: 49).  Jesus comes to ignite this fire to the whole earth; and he loves to see it burning like blazing fire and consuming all it contains.  In our lives, if there is something we want to change in ourselves, for example our easy and fast in committing sin, we have to put it on fire (idarang at idaan sa apoy ng masunog ang kasalanan), to loose and be free from the grip of sin.  In our house or in our community, if there are some fighting, quarrels, disgust, manipulations – physical and verbal, worse scenario killing if not settled in court, due to problems, let say of land dwelling and disputes, (agawan sa lupa), or the renters (of house and the land) do not want to vacate the lot for the true owners will put a new houses for their children but they do not want to leave, inspite there was already sheriff’s eviction and demolition.  Then, it so happened that there was fire in that place, and the renters’ houses were eaten by fire. Though there was no bad intention on the part of the owners, the owners were relieved from constant reminder and eviction of the renters and renewal of life in that house or community (looban sa barangay) happens due to fire.  Or like what Mayor Francisco (Isko Moreno) Domagoso, the newly elected mayor of City of Manila is doing, he sets fire as needs to clean and make over and claiming the city roads and streets from the illegal vendors, drug dens, police posts, illegal parking of vehicles, and other obstructions in the street of Manila though some people became angry with him while many others were appreciating what he is doing in the city.  So also with Jesus, he needs to set fire on his disciples, that they might burn so that its true reality, true color might appear; who is the true disciple of Jesus, when he or she passed through the fire without any burns.        

In putting ourselves on fire, as a figurative speech, our natural selves, our brilliance, appear.  Like a diamond, unless you cut its roughness and edges, it will not come out its sparkling brightness, its true beauty, and its spreading light.  This burning of fire is another way of baptism, the indelible mark of encountering God and His presence in the world.  Fire cleanses all stain, rust or kalawang, and dirt (dumi), we called sin, that cling to something or someone.  “’There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!’” (Luke 12: 50).  Jesus Christ is the true and perfect signs and symbols of God’s presence and encounter of humanity.  But as true God and true man he shows how to become obedient to the will of God the Father.  He underwent to the baptismal cleansing of John the Baptist and there is another baptism Jesus wants to undergo, the baptism of fire, to which his anxious desire to accomplish be purified not of sin but the command of God in himself.

With this baptism of fire, our true intentions will appear, crystalize, and reveal in following Jesus, whether we are with him or against him.  “’Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.’” (Luke 12: 51).  With this fire, we will be divided, whether we like it or not, we will be separated and disjoined, one is with Jesus and the other is against Jesus.  Whether we will follow Jesus’ teachings or disobey his precepts and commands, either we are friends of Jesus or his enemies. Also, like in the final judgment, the shepherd will separate the sheep from goat; so also with Jesus the Christ, he will separate the good from the bad.  

Even in the family, inspite of the closed-knit, strong bond and tight relationship, division of interests, such as in faith and beliefs, happens.  Each one of them has their own opinion.  “’From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three;’” (Luke 12: 52).  In a family of five which include father and mother, daughter, son and his wife, as cited by Jesus, there is also division, kampihan at hiwalayan, “’ . . . 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.’”  (Luke 12: 53).  Father will be in disagreement with his son, and his son will fight back against his father for now he is stronger than his father; daughter rebels against her mother for she is now grown up and liberated from the skirt of her mother while her mother is over-protective and strict towards her; mother-in-law is dismayed with the wife of her son for she cannot give the same care to her son of his wife.

How much more with religion?  The father and mother are traditionalists, or they are closed and practical Catholics while their son, daughter and daughter-in-law are progressive, they are free to choose religions they want, and it is easy for them to change religions, or sometimes they choose not to have religions.  What they believe is themselves.  Nowadays, young people do not believe or have faith in God while our parents remain steadfast in their faith. Or we may also say the other way around, that their parents become indifferent to their faith, in their beliefs.   But those who remain in Christ Jesus, whoever they may be, you and I, they believe and have faith in God who saves them and protects them from all sickness, and provides them their needs, there is fire in them that lights their lives and show the way and direction on life toward God, they continue to pray, love, and serve for they already belong to the separated ones, the sheep.  "May the fire of your word consume our sins and its brightness illumine our hearts" (Week III, Saturday Morning Prayer, Psalm Prayer).