Today’s Scripture Readings

‘I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! From now on, five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided:
father against son
and son against father,
mother against daughter
and daughter against mother,
mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’

Since Vatican II, a focus has been on God’s kindness and compassion. The Bible is very clear, however, that God is not only gentle but also fierce, demanding, and even terrifying. Jesus captures these qualities when He declares: ‘I came to bring fire to the earth.’ This is not the image of a gentle cozy flame but rather a terrifying, consuming blaze.

Is this depiction a bit harsh? I think not. Immediately after, Jesus adds: ‘Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!’ These words seem to contradict our image of Him as the ‘Prince of Peace.’ Yet there is no contradiction. God is Love and His love is always the same. How it is received depends on the heart of the recipient.

For someone in a good spiritual space God’s love often feels gentle and kind. But to a heart clouded by sin, that same love can feel like judgment, fire, and pain. This is why Jesus flips the tables of false peace. The world often clings to a counterfeit ‘Temu’ version of Love that hides dysfunction and injustice. Christ comes to shatter it, so that true peace—authentic, lasting, and life-giving—can take its rightful place. Breaking up the false order can be painful, but it is (sometimes) the necessary work of love.

The fire Christ casts is not meant to destroy us but to purify us. It burns away what is false so that something stronger, freer, and more beautiful can remain.