Son of God or Child of the Devil? (Lk 11:15-26)

 

The Pharisees’ accusation that Jesus is an agent of the devil reveals a disturbing aspect about religion.  Religions can become dangerous when their adherents use their entrenched beliefs about devils and demons to depersonalize others and label them as “children of the devil”[1].  History shows that the danger comes from the way this label creates the illusion of an enemy who must be defeated in any way possible.  This type of psychological scapegoating of others is then often used to justify many forms of aggression and violence[2].

This is the dangerous path followed by the Pharisees.  They demonize Jesus with the lie that he is a child of the devil.  This illusion relies on their claim that Jesus derives his power to drive out demons from Beelzebub, the prince of demons.  This is a self-serving premise that allows the Pharisees to see Jesus as an enemy they aim to kill.  Jesus knows their type.  He therefore responds to their unfounded and distorted claim with a dilemma to expose the illusion created by their lie. 

On the one hand, if the Pharisees are correct, then their own people rely on the same power to expel demons.  In that case, Satan is a house divided and on the verge of falling.  If, on the other hand, they are wrong, then Jesus derives his power from God, and the kingdom of God has arrived.  In that case, the Pharisees are on the wrong side of history.  As Jesus puts it, “whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”  There is no “in-between” when it comes to following Jesus.

The interesting question raised by this encounter between Jesus and the Pharisees has to do with the effectiveness of a lie.  Why does a lie work?  What is so appealing about the illusion that a lie creates?  A lie always operates on a self-serving premise that promises the illusion of satisfying some physical, psychological, or emotional need.  The greater the need, the greater the appeal of the illusion.  This makes it difficult at times to know the difference between a lie and the truth.  Some lies cannot be detected.  That is the nature of a lie.

But, Jesus shows us how to detect a lie most clearly in his own encounter with the devil in the desert.  We know the story.  After Jesus spends 40 days fasting in the desert, the devil offers him three proposals.  Each proposal operates on a self-serving premise that the devil uses to create the illusion of satisfying some need.  Jesus relies on the Word of God, his faith in God, and his love for the Father in crafting his response to each proposal (Mt 4:1-11). 

In the first proposal, the devil suggests that Jesus turn stones into bread to satisfy his physical hunger.  The devil hopes to create the illusion that life of the body takes priority over life of the soul.  Jesus responds with the Word of God to this first illusion by asserting that we do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God (Mt 4:4).  In other words, stay focused on the word of God as a sure guide to the right road.  The justification for satisfying all our needs has no better reference point than scripture itself.       

In the second proposal, the devil suggests that Jesus can prove God’s love by jumping off the parapet to test whether God will save him from harm.  The devil relies on a common fear of loss to create the illusion that God is unreliable and therefore will not save him.  Jesus responds with love for his father to this second illusion.  Because Jesus loves his father, he knows that our relationship with God calls for trust rather than suspicion (Mt 4:7).  Thus, Jesus responds to the second illusion with his command not to test God.  The point is, no matter what happens, God works all things to the good for those who love him and seek to do his will (Rm 8:28).  There is no better safety net than the one provided by the love of God. 

In the final proposal, the devil offers worldly kingdoms to Jesus in exchange for worship from Jesus.  The devil relies on the human propensity for greed to create the illusion that material wealth brings untold power and control.  For the greedy person, however, enough is never enough.  In that case, the pursuit of material wealth above all else is greed that amounts to worship of a false God.  Jesus responds with faith in God to the third illusion, and says that worship belongs to the true God alone; he is the only one to serve (Mt 4:10). 

Word, Faith, and Love are the tools Jesus relies on in exposing and responding to each illusion presented by the devil.  Jesus relies on the Word of God to feed his soul, his faith in God to sustain him in time of troubles, and his love for God as the guiding purpose of his life and mission.  His response in each case reveals the sure tools we also have to detect and disarm illusions of any kind, especially those offered by the devil (1 Cor 10:13; Jm 5:16).  In the words of St. James, with all humility and confidence, call on God [in Word, Faith and Love] for power to resist [the illusions offered by] the devil, and he will flee (Jm 4:7-10).

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[1] “A brief history of belief in the Devil” by Izak Spangenberg, Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae 39 (2013), pp. 213-230.

[2] “The Zeal of Phinehas: The Bible and the Legitimation of Violence” by John J. Collins, The Journal of Biblical Literature 122 (2003), pp. 3-21.

Walk in the Light (Lk 10:13-16)

 

Jesus expresses frustration and disappointment with the people of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum.  Although they were God’s chosen people, they had lost their bearings and no longer followed the way of the Lord.  They cherished their sins in a way that made them hard of heart and spiritually blind.  They no longer saw a need to repent.  Jesus performed many miracles in their cities to persuade them of God’s love for them, but their hearts remained closed.  As a result, they did not recognize God among them and refused to repent of their sins (Jn 9:41). 

To express his anguish over their being pigheaded, Jesus compared their response to the response of many people in the cities of Tyre and Sidon, who were pagans.  Although Jesus did not perform his mighty deeds in those cities, many there heard about his miracles and went to him for healing.  Their spiritual hunger generated hearts eager to receive the love of God.  With that goal in mind, they embraced the words of Jesus and came to believe in him (Mk 3:8; Lk 6:17).  Jesus indicates that many more would have repented had they seen the mighty deeds performed for God’s own people.    

The fact that those who witnessed the signs and wonders of Jesus, and yet, did not repent, reveals an everyday shortcoming of human nature.  We often tend to make ourselves spiritually blind to the extent that eventually we no longer recognize the love of God in our lives.  The reasons are many, but the end result comes about over time as a consequence of keeping our hearts closed (Rm 1:19-23).  We grab hold and hang on to those sins we cherish as rationally justified.  We no longer see them as sins, and we no longer see ourselves as rejecting the love of God.  We have made ourselves spiritually blind.

St. Paul seems to have understood more than most how to avoid this outcome. In his letter to the Ephesians, for example, Paul claims we guard against such results by choosing to put on a new self in imitation of Christ (Eph 4:22-24).  In Paul’s view, such a choice puts us in harmony with the Holy Spirit.  By deliberately renouncing our cherished sins—our anger, bitterness, jealousy, prejudice, injustice, and many others—we abandon that way of thinking and create room in our hearts for the love of God.  We free ourselves to follow Christ, and the love of God then motivates us to be more kind to one another, understanding, compassionate, and forgiving (Eph 4:30-32).  In the words of the prophet Ezequiel, we are transformed with new hearts made of flesh rather than stone (Ez 36:26).

We do not want to be like the people of Chorazin and Bethsaida who knew how to “judge the appearance of the sky” but could not judge the signs of the times (Mt 16:3).  That happens to all of us when we turn a deaf ear to the Holy Spirit.  We can say no to the Holy Spirit and go about our own way of doing things (Heb 3:7-9).  On the other hand, we can choose the right road with the light of Christ.

Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life (Jn 8:12).  The light of Christ nourishes us and opens our hearts to perceive him whenever and wherever he shows himself.  With his light, we can see the way to imitate his love for others (Ps 119:105).

A Good Reputation Counts (Mk 8:27-35; Lk 9:18-22; Mt 16:13-15)

 

Reputation is an important feature of our lives.  Our reputation is the perception others have of us, rather than how we see ourselves.  It follows that our reputation depends on, and is determined by, what we say and do.  It serves as a kind of social currency used in many different contexts (Milinski, 2015).  Our reputation provides a way for others to decide about our trustworthiness and to predict our behavior.  A good reputation opens doors, while a bad one closes them. 

No wonder Jesus asks his disciples about his own reputation.  His first question—Who do people say that I am—is easy enough to answer.  The disciples had seen the large crowds gather as Jesus went around teaching his message of love and salvation.  They saw his deep concern for the poor and the oppressed, and how he included sinners and outcasts in his inner circle of friends.  They were there the many times Jesus challenged the cruel hypocrisy of the Pharisees.  By now, the disciples had witnessed Jesus heal many people, forgive their sins, walk on water, drive out demons, and raise the dead to life.  So, why would Jesus ask a question the disciples could answer with ease? 

The question is easy to answer because it does not require the disciples to reveal anything about what they personally feel and believe about Jesus.  Nor does this question call for a commitment on their part to Jesus or to his way of life.  The question simply requires the disciples to repeat what others have said about Jesus, and not much else.  Their answer is much like reporting the results of a survey or political poll.   

In a sense, this first question serves as prelude to the next question that will be harder to answer because it calls for something more substantial.  The second question—who do YOU say that I am—compels a choice.  The question itself creates a decisive moment beyond which the disciples can no longer remain aloof.  They must decide right then and there what they personally think and believe about Jesus.  In other words, the question calls for a commitment. 

For that reason, how the disciples answer will determine both their future relationship with Jesus, and who they are in relation to him.  Jesus knows that his time with the disciples is nearing an end.  For that reason, they must decide once and for all who they believe Jesus is and how they will relate to him.  They must decide what Jesus means to them.

Jesus asks the disciples these two questions while times are good to prepare them for the bad times ahead.  Later, the disciples will have no time for reflection about such questions.  With these two questions, Jesus tries to convey the urgency of Isaiah’s warning, “Seek the LORD while he may be found, call him while he is near” (Is 55:6).  Jesus knows that his disciples will need to rely on more than what others say about Him.  The disciples will need a personal commitment to Jesus and solid faith in him, and in each other, to overcome the violence and threats to life and limb that are about to unfold.

Jesus asks the same two questions of us for the same reasons.  The answer to the first question may be easy enough for us to answer as it was for those first disciples.  Our answer to the second question, however, is as challenging and revealing for us as it was for the early disciples.  It is not enough for us to repeat what others say about Jesus.  Our answer to the second question reveals who we believe Jesus is, and who we believe we are in relation to him and to each other.  It is a question that we cannot avoid answering, no matter how or when we choose to formalize our answer.

Jesus indicates his expectations regarding our answer when he teaches his disciples the Lord’s Prayer.  With this prayer, Jesus provides a framework for how we are to conduct ourselves in our relationship with him, with God, and with each other.  To say “Our Father” is to acknowledge and proclaim first and foremost that we are all children of God.  We all belong to the same spiritual family in and through Jesus Christ, with an equal relationship to one another.  We are all equally loved by God, the apple of his eye, without exception and without exclusion (Zech 2:12; Ps 17:8). 

In turn, Jesus expects us to live out this spiritual unity by loving God and loving others with trust and faith.  There is no better way to answer the second question, who do you say that I am, than by expressing our belief in this divine unity of love.  No other answer will give us a better reputation.

God or Mammon? The Choice is Ours (Lk 16:1-13)

 

Jesus teaches us through parables.  The beauty of the parables is that they are timeless, and for that reason, can help us in our troubled times today and in our personal lives.  Through his parables, Jesus wants us to keep our eyes on him.  To that end, he allows us to connect the dots and tease out the hidden meaning in his parables.  He provides clues along the way, for sure, but the motive of the main characters is often key in discovering the real point of the story.  The parable about the dishonest steward follows this pattern.

The story provides a detailed description of how the disreputable steward saves his own skin through clever manipulation and exploitation of his master’s wealth.  That much is obvious.  Then, Jesus surprises us with an unexpected conclusion to the story.   When the master finds out what the steward has done, he praises the steward’s unscrupulous behavior. 

Equally surprising is the lesson Jesus claims the parable offers.  Rather than warning against imitating the dishonest behavior of the steward, Jesus encourages the children of the light to be as clever with dishonest wealth.  He claims that doing so is a means of proving themselves trustworthy with true wealth!  All of which leads to the unexpected conclusion that we cannot serve two masters, God and mammon.  Jesus leaves the choice to us. 

With this parable, Jesus shows how the commandments and the whole Mosaic Law can be interpreted and applied in ways that go beyond the obvious.  The underlying reference point for this story, for example, is the first of the Ten Commandments: “There shall be no foreign god among you; you shall not bow down to an alien god” (Ps 81: 10-11).  During the time of Jesus, there were many Roman and Greek gods available for the ancient Hebrews to serve.  Thus, on one level, the point of the story is obvious: “No one can serve two gods…You cannot serve both God and mammon” (Lk 16:13).

On a deeper level, however, Jesus uses the word mammon to take the parable a step further.  Mammon has a comprehensive, worldly meaning as valid today as it was back then.  Mammon includes more than just money.  It includes the many things of this world that produce a sense of security—not only our material wealth, but also our status, our power, our control.  Thus, on a deeper level, the implication of the parable is that, if we take our eyes off Jesus, we risk turning anything into a god.  This is why he urges us to be clever with dishonest wealth.  We must be on guard not only with our money, but with all the things of this world. 

The question for us today, then, is how to use the things of this world in a spiritually wise manner?  Which master do we serve?  This is a question each of us must answer.  Whichever one we choose, Jesus shows us through his life and mission that our calling is to serve the God of love, mercy, and justice (Lk 6:36).  To that end, the prophet Isaiah urges us not to turn our backs on those in need (Is 58:7-10). 

There is a passage in the first letter of Timothy that makes this point in a very clear and powerful manner.  Timothy says in his letter: “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant or put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.  Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.”  For Timothy, this is how we prepare ourselves to take hold of the life that is truly life (1 Tim 6:17-19).  Timothy encourages us to grow rich with good deeds done, if for no other reason, than as a show of gratitude for what God has done for each of us. 

Timothy’s advice reminds us that Jesus called the people of his day—as much as he calls us—to follow the wisdom of God, not the wisdom of the world (1 Cor 2:4-6).  Doing so is a matter of living in a vibrant, dynamic, trusting relationship with God.  Such a way of life gives mercy and compassion priority over ritual and custom as a guide for the right road.  The stories of Jesus always point to the God of Love as the master to serve. 

And, because Jesus loves us, he allows us to choose our own response, hoping we will choose wisely. 

 

 

Which is the Right Road? (Lk 6:39-42)

 

The blind leading the blind is a catchphrase that we learn early on because it applies in so many areas of life.  It actually comes from the New Testament (cf. Lk 6:39; Mt 15:14).  Jesus himself used this idiom to warn about the dangers of being led astray by incompetent spiritual leaders.  Jesus warned against those who do not know which is the right spiritual road.  Thus they go down the wrong path and take many others with them.  The only way to avoid that spiritual pitfall, according to Jesus, is to know for ourselves which is the right road.  As Jesus puts it, “Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye” (Lk 6:42).

This raises what can be a difficult question of how to know when we are on the right spiritual road; how do we remove the log from our own eye?  The difficulty is apparent in light of the way our culture places high value on the pursuit of self-interest, at times even at the expense of our neighbor.  Adding to the difficulty is the idea that we always pursue that which we value most as a matter of individual choice.  In that case, we can tell whether we are on the right spiritual road by first acknowledging the end that we pursue.  Then, a consideration of the end that we ought to pursue will provide the answer we seek (1 Jn 4:1).  As Jesus would say, “where your treasure is, there also will your heart be” (Mt 6:21). 

The answer that emerges from our comparison will show that not just any road will do.  Not all roads are right roads (Prov 14:12).  Jesus himself warns us that “False messiahs and false prophets” operate in the world so as to deceive even the devout (Mt 24:24).  The right spiritual road for the most part depends on the beliefs and hopes that we hold dear.  In other words, it depends on what we love.  This is why Jesus points out that our love for God goes hand in hand with love for our neighbor, including our enemies. 

We cannot hate our neighbor and love God.  In fact, our faith and hope compel us to express our love for God with love for our neighbor (1 Jn 4:20-21).  Although like the good Samaritan, we each determine how and when to love our neighbor, such love is what we take with us when we pass from this life to the next (1 Cor 13:13).  The love that we keep and nurture in our hearts for God, for our neighbor, and ourselves is the gift that we keep and take with us to the other side (1 Cor 13:13; Mt 10:13).  This is the mystery of love.

We might say that faith in the mystery of love binds us to Christ and to one another in a unique way.  For this reason, we celebrate the great mystery of love in our Eucharistic celebration.  In turn, our celebration enables and empowers us to bring the love of Christ to others in our daily lives.  Our acts of love reveal the meaning of this great mystery.  As followers of Christ, our Eucharistic celebration is truly a sending out into the world because it connects our earthly life to the heavenly realities promised by our Lord. 

Not everyone is open to this message, however.  The spiritually blind refuse to see the truth of what Jesus proclaims.  Those who do accept his message and act on it are people of good will.  A person of good will has the mindset of serving others with an active regard for their benefit and welfare.  This is the example of service that Jesus gave us as a guidepost for finding and following the right spiritual road.  We do well in taking to heart his good counsel, for the road of loving service leads to our eternal treasure.

An Unlikely Witness (Mk 6:17-29)

 

The testimony of a witness is often an important phenomenon in our society.  A witness is one who can provide information about what he or she has seen and heard.  A convincing witness always speaks with confidence.  The testimony of a witness, therefore, always depends on personal experience and confidence, along with a commitment to the truth and to reality. 

A witness can give several kinds of testimony, including firsthand knowledge, specialized knowledge, or knowledge about the character of someone.  Sometimes, one is considered an unlikely witness, even though that person might provide convincing testimony if given the chance.  John the Baptist was thought of in this way, considered by many as an unlikely witness to Christ.

John came into the world as a prophet, sent by God to testify to the light and prepare the way of the Lord.  John is an unlikely witness for Christ, however.  He is not a religious leader, nor even part of the religious establishment.  He lives on the margins of society, alone in the desert, with no visible means of support.  No one saw John as God’s chief witness.  Yet, that is what he is, proclaiming to others what he has seen and heard about the coming of the Lord Jesus.  Ultimately, his dedicated witness to Christ led to his cruel death at the hands of Herod.

John is not the only unlikely witness, nor is he the first.  The first is Mary, the mother of our Lord Jesus.  She is a young, unmarried woman with no official role in the temple or synagogue worship.  As a woman, she is not even allowed to give testimony in a court of law.  Yet, God chose her as the first witness to proclaim the coming of the Lord to her cousin Elizabeth.  She is also the first to bring Christ to others—both at his birth and at Cana where she inaugurates his mission.

There are other unlikely witnesses—the lowly shepherds in the fields near Bethlehem at the birth of Jesus.  The Samaritan woman at the well is an enemy of the Jews, and yet, her testimony inspires many to follow Jesus.  The women at the tomb are the first witnesses who provide crucial testimony about the resurrection of Jesus.  Perhaps the most famous unlikely witness to Jesus is Paul himself.  His persecution of Christians prior to his own conversion is legendary, while the powerful influence of his witness to the risen Jesus is unparalleled. 

As unlikely as these witnesses are, they all share three characteristics that serve as a model and inspiration for us, who are likewise called as witnesses to Christ.  The first characteristic is that they speak from personal experience.  Because a witness can only testify to what he or she has seen and heard, testimony always depends on personal experience and a commitment to what is real.  This explains why the Apostle John claims in his letter that, “we have seen for ourselves, and we attest that the Father sent the Son to be the savior of the world” (1 Jn 4:14). 

The second characteristic is that witnesses speak the truth with confidence.  The only reference point for confident, truthful testimony is reality itself, because reality and truth are one in the same—what is real is true, and what is true is real.  Because Christ describes himself as the way, the truth, and the life (Jn 14:6), he reveals himself to be reality itself.  Therefore, to be a witness to Christ is to be a witness to the truth.  The truth that Jesus proclaims is that God loves us and longs for our love in return.  He wants to share his eternal joy with us.  This truth inspires the confident testimony of all witnesses to Christ.

The third characteristic shared by witnesses to Christ is that they speak to inspire faith in Jesus.  The gospel writer John, for example, says he writes his account so that we may come to believe Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief we may have life in his name (Jn 20:31).  This is his sole purpose—to awaken faith in Jesus—and the sole purpose of any testimony about Christ.  For this reason, Christian witness is not simply repeating someone else's take on the matter at hand, or reporting events as a detached observer.  A witness to Christ speaks to awaken faith in Christ.  Their testimony, through word and deed, brings the saving presence of Christ to others.

            Like the many unlikely witnesses to Christ, we too can draw on our personal experience and speak the truth with confidence to inspire faith in Jesus.  Like the early witnesses and those throughout the ages, our words and deeds done in faith are the testimony that brings Christ to others.  Our courage to be a faithful witness derives from the promise made by Jesus when he said: “Everyone who acknowledges me before others, I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father” (Mt 10:32).  We pray for the Holy Spirit to help us make good on our calling and role as an unlikely witness to Christ.

Mary, Queen and Mother (Mt 22:34-40)

 

With his 1954 encyclical, To the Queen of Heaven, Pope Pius XII established the feast celebrating the Queenship of Mary.  In that encyclical, Pius states that, “From early times Christians have believed with good reason…that Mary received privileges of grace above all other beings created by God…and when Christians reflected upon the intimate connection between mother and son, they readily acknowledged the supreme royal dignity of the Mother of God” (Ad Caeili Reginam, 8).

Pius was convinced that Mary deserves the title Queen primarily because of the way she lived out the commandments to love God and one another as we love ourselves.  Her life demonstrates that she understood this directive as a call to live in the Spirit of Christ according to the Law of Christ.  She embraced the idea that Jesus did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it (Mt 5:17). 

Jesus offers proof with the two great commandments of love that summarize the Mosaic Law the prophets.  With this summary, Jesus means that love itself—both of God and of neighbor—is at the root and the heart of the entire Mosaic Law and the motivation behind all that the prophets uttered.  This proof inspires St. Paul to claim in his letter to the Romans that we should “Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law” (Rm 13:8).

This commandment to love is more than a rule to obey.  When Jesus says to his disciples to “love one another as I have loved you” (Jn 13:34; 15:12), he means that love is the only measure of a morally good life.  This interpretation is more in keeping with the way the ancient Hebrews understood the word commandment.  For them, a commandment was a wise directive rather than an obligation.  In that sense, following the commandments of God reflected a wise choice to go on the right road in life.

We know we are on the right road, therefore, when we allow the principle of love to direct our lives, our thoughts, our goals, our actions.  To be guided by love is the only way we can live in the Spirit of Christ according to the Law of Christ.  Like Mary, our lives then become holy because our way of living reflects our acceptance of God’s invitation to be holy as he is holy (Lv 11:44; 1 Pt 1:16). 

For this reason, Mary does not leave us alone in our response to this invitation from the one true God.  Mary is the Queen of Heaven, who stands ready and willing to help us stay on the right road of love.  The Holy Spirit is likewise our eager guide and helper who yearns to transform our lives with the principle of love.  In a special way, the Holy Spirit speaks to each of us in our hearts, in our reflections, through our prayers, and through the wisdom of others to deepen and enrich our journey with Jesus.  How this encounter happens is different for each of us.  There are many gifts, but one Spirit. 

Send forth your Spirit, Oh Lord, and each of us shall be created, each of us made new, each of us transformed into persons who can lead better lives, even in the most complicated circumstances.  The Holy Spirit empowers us to love others and touch their lives as Christ loves and touches each of us.  This is the simple message of Jesus—to live in his Spirit, rooted in the commandment to love God and one another as we love ourselves.  This is the road that honors the Queenship of Mary. 

A Fork in the Road (C 20 Sun 25; Lk 12:49-53)

 

We have all come to a fork in the road in our lives, and we took it.  Whether we took the right fork is not always clear, but we made a choice.  Jesus presents his disciples with a fork in the road that reveals the decisive character of his mission.  On the one hand, he says to the disciples, “Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth?  No, I tell you, but rather division” (Lk 12:51).  Yet, at the last supper, he says to his disciples: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.  Do not let your hearts be troubled” (Jn 14:27).  So, which is it?  Does Jesus bring peace or does he bring division? 

As contradictory as it sounds, he brings both.  The purpose of his mission in one sense is to expose the illusions and false values of the world.  Jesus uses fire to symbolize the emotional urgency he feels in accomplishing this goal, even at the cost of his own life.  Jesus shares this yearning with his disciples when he says that he came to set the earth on fire and longs for the day when that will be a reality.  His sense of urgency indicates the powerful transformation his message will have through the Spirit.

Jesus’ coming into the world is therefore a spiritually decisive moment.  Jesus comes with a message that will divide those who choose to follow him from those who don’t.  One either accepts his message or one rejects it.  There is no in between.  As he puts it, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters” (Mt 12:30).  Even in our own day, we cannot stand on the sidelines, waiting for the right moment.  Withholding a decision to follow Jesus is in effect a decision not to follow him.  So much for the division brought about by his coming into the world.

Jesus also comes as the Prince of Peace with a message that seeks peace and unity guided by the eyes of love (Is 9:5).  This is why Jesus often uses the greeting “Peace be with you” throughout his earthly mission.  His greeting shows that bringing peace is his primary intention, but a different kind of peace than the peace offered by the world.  Jesus brings peace of heart.  Do not let your hearts be troubled, he says.  But, how does that happen?  What brings about unity and peace of heart?  How do we realize the peace that Jesus guarantees (see Jn 14:27)?

In a word, trust—trust in God and following his Word rather than our own devices.  Placing our trust in God underscores our vulnerability, for sure, but trust in God is the only road to unity and peace of heart.  St. Paul relies on this premise in his letter to the Philippians when he says, “Only the peace of God can guard our hearts and sustain us in times of trouble” (Phil 4:7; Col 3:15).

Although achieving peace today can be a difficult challenge, many of St. Paul’s letters offer sound advice in that regard.  In his letter to the Ephesians, for example, Paul urges us to live in a manner worthy of the calling that we have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace (Eph 4:1-6).  This advice suggests that peace and unity are fundamentally a matter of choice.  We can choose to live in unity and peace with our neighbor, or not.

To realize that goal, Paul urges us not to grieve the Spirit of God.  He makes it plain that we can do this by removing all bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, reviling, and all malice from our thinking about things and in our manner of relating to others.  In place of these, Paul advises us to be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven us (Eph 4:30-32).  This is the heart of Christian living that comes from a choice to be friends with God and with each other. 

True friendship born of love for God and neighbor promotes peace of heart and unity on a spiritual level.  On this level, Jesus offers his friends peace and unity.  Living out this friendship with integrity yields the lasting peace of heart that Jesus longs to share with us.  Sounds simple, but trust in God who works all things for our good is the sure road that leads to peace of heart and unity among us (Rm 8:28).  The choice to follow that road or not is ours. 

Jesus calls attention to the reality of choice in his Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Mt 5:9).  For most of us, bringing peace to countries at war is beyond our reach.  Choosing peace over conflict and discord in ordinary living, however, is not.  We do it all the time in our families, our friendships, our jobs, and our communities.  We choose to live in peace with our families, our friends, our colleagues, our neighbors. 

We have come to understand that there is no need to return insult for insult.  We know how to resist evil by not seeking revenge or harming others (1Pt 3:9).  In the words of Isaiah, we often must heal the wounds that destroy and relieve the hurt that divides (Is 1:16-17).  When we allow peace to rule our hearts in this way, we serve the God of Peace.

Living in peace with others is our call as human beings and children of God (Col 3:15).  We carry out this call by living in a manner consistent with the values of Christ.  This is the essence of a good moral life, to live with integrity as Christ lived in the world.  To live with the heart and mind of Christ is a decision to live by his principles, to work for peace, to show mercy, to seek justice, and to do good to and for others.  This is the path of love that we follow in imitation of Jesus.  On the path of love, we can be sure that the peace and unity offered by God will be ours for the asking (Heb 12:14).