It Goes With The Territory
- Msgr. Ching Encinares
- Oct 26, 2017
- 2 min read
Thursday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
My dear encountered couples:
This is a very unsettling prophecy that Jesus makes. Signing on to his policies will not bring us peace and harmony, on the contrary it will upset the tranquility of mankind and cause division among peoples. Even members of families will differ and argue over the teachings of Christ. “From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three,” Jesus warns. “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.” And you were wondering why you had so much in-law trouble.
Jesus brought love, forgiveness, standards of morality, and principles to live by to earth. Some sign on to them, others refuse to sign, and thus we have division. But there is not only division among people; there is division within our very selves. Part of us accepts what Jesus taught, part of us resists. It’s the age-old battle of the likeness of God within us at odds with the likeness of the devil. Since the Garden of Eden warfare has been waging within every human being between good and evil.
Though the love and sacrifice of Christ was to vanquish sin and its effects, something in each of us has not allowed the fullness of his redemption to take place. The effects of original sin keep hanging on in us. Therefore, we not only experience division between peoples, but division right within our souls. “I have come to set the earth on fire,” announced Jesus. “How great is my anguish until it is accomplished!” We feel that anguish too. Don’t let it get you down. It just goes with the territory of becoming one with Christ. The Holy Spirit will get you through it.
