I came to cast fire upon the earth

 

The free gift of God is eternal life in Christ.

Reflection on Today’s Readings, Thursday of 29th Week in Ordinary Time, Year I, October 26th, 2023
Texts: Romans 6:19-23; Psalm 1: 1-4,6; Luke 12:49-53 

Jesus Christ tells us, today, that He came to cast fire upon the earth. Jesus uses the fire in contrast to peace and to mean contention. In His words: “I came to cast fire upon the earth; ... Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division”. Being Christians we will face contention over faith. Faith is the dividing line; between faith in Moses and faith in Jesus Christ, between the law and grace.  

St. Paul, in the first reading, speaks of two ways of life: The way of sin and the way of righteousness. One way is a freedom from the other, which means they are in contrast. “When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. ... But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the return you get is sanctification and its end, eternal life.” The way of sin is opposed to the way of righteousness. The two ways of life are for us to choose. We either live a sinful life or righteous life. 

When we choose the way of righteousness, we choose sanctification and life

The two ways of life also have their ends. The way of sin ends in death while the way of righteousness ends in sanctification and eternal life. St. Paul says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ  Jesus our  Lord.” When we choose the way of sin, we choose death. When we choose the way of righteousness, we choose sanctification and life. Hence, our destiny consists in the way of life we choose. The appeal to us is to choose the way of righteousness. 

Prayer 

God our Father, fill us with grace to follow the way of righteousness. Amen  

Fr. Andrew Olowomuke