Homily for the Twentieth Sunday of Ordinary Time Aug 18, 2019

Homily for the Twentieth Sunday of Ordinary Time   Aug 18, 2019

          Our Gospel today is a rather difficult one, and I would like to take a look at it.

          First of all, if you have ever been stressed, say you have tried to drive in Austin traffic, then you can identify with Jesus.  In the Gospel Jesus states: “There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!”   “how great is my anguish..”  The NRSV translates this as “and what stress I am under…”  

The Orthodox Study Bible has, “and how distressed I am till it is accomplished.’

And the Jerusalem Bible renders this as “and how great is my distress till it is over!”

          In short, Jesus is stressed.  And the news He gives is pretty stressful: “Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth?  NO, I tell you, but rather division.  From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three, 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.”  

          Ouch!  That sounds pretty stressful.  What is going on?  What gives?  Did not Jesus promise us His peace?  Did He not say, “my peace I leave you, my peace I give you”???   

Was Jesus just having a really bad day?  ….  No, I don’t think so. 

          The way I understand this teaching of Jesus is this.  There are two kinds of peace.  One type of peace is the absence of violence.  At its best this peace is just tolerance.  

         This is the kind of peace that exists along the border between North and South Korea.  There is not active shooting, though there are animosity, distrust, and hard feelings.  

          This is the kind of peace that exists in some poor and minority neighborhoods.   There are sporadic acts of violence, but on the surface it is usually controlled and calm, though the hatred, the fear and suspicion are just below the surface, and the “peace” operates out of resentment and represion. 

          This is the kind of peace that exists in some well-to-do, exclusive, gated neighborhoods that focus on keeping out the wrong kind of person, and operate out of fear, creating barriers and distance. 

          This is the kind of peace can be found in some relationships and marriages and families.  The parties really don’t like each other, but tolerate the others in the family, bearing grudges and memories of past hurts, always on the defensive, looking for opportunities to score points, hurt back, or get an advantage without open conflict. 

          This is the kind of peace that is nothing more than the absence of violence.

          The other kind of peace is more like the Biblical concept of SHALOM.  Far beyond mere tolerance, this peace actively seeks the well-being of the other.  It seeks not just a lack of conflict, but genuine harmony.  It wills and seeks the well-being and wholeness of the other.  It actively promotes growth of all in the community.  Such peace is the gift of the Holy Spirit.  It is the kind of peace the angels sang of on the night of Jesus’ birth when they proclaimed “peace to people of Good Will”.  It is what we are supposed to be wishing when we offer each other the sign of peace at Mass.   

It is the type of peace Jesus gave us as His gift.  Shalom.  Well-being.   Fullness of life. 

          Two types of peace.  They are opposed.  The temptation is to settle for the one sort of peace, the avoiding of conflict, rather than do the hard, painful, scary work of establishing true SHALOM in our relationships.

          To achieve SHALOM, we first of all have to speak the truth.  This peace is founded on honesty.  There can be no real peace based on lies.  Or even on evasions and equivocations.  Genuine peace cannot be based on the phony.  It must be based on the truth.  And as Jesus knew from first hand experience, speaking the truth causes problems.  It divides households, a father against his son and the son against his father, a mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother.  But until the truth is spoken there can be no real unity, and no real peace. 

          And the truth must not be used as a weapon.   The speaking of the truth must not be done as a way to bludgeon the other, but as a genuine search for the truth.  None of us has the full truth.  We must not only speak our truth, but must listen deeply to others.  In this sharing, this coming together without accusation or blame or rancor, the truth that heals and gives life can be found.  And it leads to peace, to Shalom.

          This is a difficult Gospel.  Jesus challenges us to go beyond tolerating one another, to honestly speak truth compassionately, to seek true harmony, to seek true peace, to seek His gift of Shalom. 

          Peace!