LUKE 12:49-53
SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI
WAS THE SON OF A WEALTHY MERCHANT, AND A REAL PARTY ANIMAL. WHEN HE
WENT THROUGH HIS CONVERSION, HE SOLD HIS HORSE AND TOOK THE MONEY AND
SOME OF HIS FATHER'S CLOTH TO OBTAIN ENOUGH MONEY TO REBUILD AN OLD
CHURCH. HIS FATHER WAS SO ANGRY THAT HE APPEALED TO THE TOWN COUNSEL
TO DECLARE HIS SON DISOWNED. FRANCIS TOOK OFF HIS CLOTHING, THREW
THEM AT HIS FATHER'S FEET, AND DECLARED THAT HE WOULD ONLY CALL GOD
HIS FATHER FROM THEN ON. SAINT THOMAS JOINED THE DOMINICAN ORDER,
AND THAT MADE HIS FAMILY SO ANGRY THAT THEY IMPRISONED HIM FOR TWO
YEARS, AND DID EVERYTHING THEY COULD TO DESTROY HIS VOCATION. IN THE
END WHEN THOMAS WAS FREED, HE AND HIS FAMILY HAD NOTHING MORE TO DO
WITH EACH OTHER. AND THERE WERE MANY OTHER SAINTS WHO, WHEN THEY SET
OUT ON THEIR VOCATION, HAD TO SEVER THEIR BONDS WITH THEIR FAMILIES.
IT'S INTERESTING THAT WE
CHRISTIANS CONSIDER OURSELVES FAMILY PEOPLE. WE ARE PROUD OF THE
IDEA THAT FAMILIES LIE AT THE HEART OF THE CHURCH, THAT A FAMILY IS A
“LITTLE CHURCH”. WE VENERATE THE HOLY FAMILY, AND LOOK TO THEIR
PEACE AND LOVE AS A GOAL FOR OUR OWN FAMILIES. TODAY, THOUGH, JESUS
TOSSES OUT SOME HARD WORDS – HE DOES NOT COME TO BRING PEACE, BUT
THE SWORD; AND EVEN PEOPLE WHO ARE MEMBERS OF FAMILIES WILL BE
DIVIDED FROM EACH OTHER BECAUSE OF HIM. THIS ISN'T THE ONLY PLACE
JESUS PUZZLES US A BIT. WHEN HIS PARENTS FIND HIM IN THE TEMPLE, HE
REBUKES THEM AND ASKS, “DID YOU NOT KNOW I MUST BE DOING MY
FATHER'S WILL?” ANOTHER TIME AT THE BEGINNING OF HIS MINISTRY HIS
MOTHER AND OTHER RELATIVES COME AFTER HIM – POSSIBLY HOPING TO TALK
HIM INTO GIVING UP THIS CRAZY IDEA OF BECOMING A WANDERING PREACHER
AND RETURNING TO NAZARETH. WHEN HE IS TOLD THEY ARE OUTSIDE, HE
REPLIES, “THESE ARE MY MOTHER AND MY BROTHERS, WHO HEAR THE WORD OF
GOD AND KEEP IT.” ANOTHER TIME HE DECLARES, “WHOEVER COMES TO ME
AND DOES NOT HATE FATHER AND MOTHER, WIFE AND CHILDREN, BROTHERS AND
SISTERS, YES, AND EVEN LIFE ITSELF, CANNOT BE MY DISCIPLE.” AND
JESUS IS HARD ON OTHER FAMILIES AS WELL. WHEN HE CALLS JAMES AND
JOHN, THEY LEAVE THEIR FATHER ZEBEDEE, LEAVING HIM TWO HANDS SHORT IN
HIS FAMILY BUSINESS – AND APPARENTLY NEVER GO BACK. PROBABLY
SIMILAR STORIES COULD BE TOLD ABOUT ALL THE APOSTLES, BUT THEY
WEREN'T WRITTEN DOWN. WE KNOW PETER HAD A MOTHER-IN-LAW, WHICH
IMPLIES THAT HE HAD A WIFE, AND PROBABLY SOME CHILDREN. IN FACT IT'S
LIKELY THAT MOST IF NOT ALL THE APOSTLES WERE MARRIED WHEN THEY LEFT
EVERYTHING TO FOLLOW JESUS – YOU WOULD BE A PRETTY STRANGE JEW TO
MAKE IT TO ADULTHOOD WITHOUT HAVING BEEN MARRIED OFF. BEING SINGLE
IN THOSE DAYS WAS CONSIDERED A CURSE. SO THERE WAS PROBABLY MORE
THAN ONE FAMILY IN FIRST CENTURY PALESTINE WHICH HAD BEEN BROKEN UP
BY JESUS.
IT ISN'T THAT JESUS IS
AGAINST FAMILIES. WHAT IS THE CASE, THOUGH, IS THAT JESUS IS WARNING
US THAT IF WE REALLY WANT TO FOLLOW HIM, WE CAN EXPECT THAT ONE OF
OUR BIGGEST OBSTACLES WILL BE THOSE WE LOVE, THOSE WHO CONSTITUTE A
FAMILY WITH US. THERE ARE PURELY NATURAL REASONS THAT THIS IS SO.
IN A FAMILY, YOU FILL A ROLE, YOU FIT IN A NICHE. THERE IS SOMETHING
ORDERLY AND TRANQUIL ABOUT THIS EQUILIBRIUM. WHEN THAT IS
THREATENED, EVERYONE IS THREATENED, BECAUSE IT'S VERY DIFFICULT TO
GET BACK TO THAT ORDERLY AND TRANQUIL STATE IF ONE OF THE PIECES OF
THE PUZZLE HAS CHANGED. AND JESUS KNOWS THAT SOMEONE WHO FOLLOWS HIM
HAS TO CHANGE – THAT'S THE FIRST STEP, THAT'S WHAT “REPENTANCE”
MEANS.
IN OUR CONTEMPORARY
FAMILIES, THE CHILDREN AREN'T AS NECESSARY TO THE PARENT'S
WELL-BEING; PEOPLE DON'T EAT TOGETHER AS MUCH; WE LIVE FAR AWAY FROM
OUR RELATIVES, OUR PARENTS, BROTHERS AND SISTERS, OUR CHILDREN –
OUR FAMILIES ARE NOT NEARLY AS TIGHTLY KNIT AS THEY WERE IN THE DAYS
OF JESUS. AND IN JESUS' TIME, IT WAS UNUSUAL FOR A FAMILY TO CONSIST
OF PEOPLE OF DIFFERENT FAITHS AND DIFFERENT DEGREES OF FAITH; PEOPLE
WERE ON ROUGHLY THE SAME LEVEL IN THEIR FAITH JOURNEY. BUT IN OUR
SOCIETY, EVEN WHEN YOU HAVE TWO CATHOLICS BEING MARRIED AND RAISING
THEIR CHILDREN CATHOLIC, EVEN THEN IT'S MORE LIKELY THAT EVERYONE IS
AT A DIFFERENT LEVEL IN THEIR FAITH JOURNEY. DAD STOPPED GOING TO
CHURCH EXCEPT ON THE MAJOR HOLY DAYS. MOM TEACHES CCD AND
PARTICIPATES IN THE WEEKLY ROSARY AND WOULD NEVER THINK OF MISSING
MASS. JUNIOR, WHO IS IN COLLEGE, HAS STOPPED GOING TO CHURCH
ALTOGETHER, AND HIS SISTER, WHO IS IN GRADUATE SCHOOL, HAS JUST LET
EVERYONE KNOW SHE HAS BECOME A SCIENTOLOGIST. AND DAD THINKS MOM IS
HOLIER THAN THOU AND LOOKS DOWN ON HIM; AND SHE FEELS VERY LONELY AND
WISHES HE'D SHOW SOME INTEREST; AND THEY ARE BOTH WORRIED ABOUT THE
KIDS, ONE OF WHOM THINKS THEY ARE OLD FASHIONED AND SUPERSTITIOUS,
AND THE OTHER WHO THINKS THEY ARE MISSING OUT ON SOMETHING WONDERFUL.
THEY ARE DIVIDED FROM EACH OTHER, JUST AS JESUS PREDICTED.
IT ISN'T THAT JESUS IS
AGAINST FAMILIES. IT ISN'T THAT HE WELCOMES THE DIVISION THAT COMES
BECAUSE OF HIM. HIS PLAN IS CLEAR; HE WANTS TO CREATE A FAMILY THAT
SURPASSES ALL HUMAN FAMILIES. AND UNFORTUNATELY AS EACH OF US MOVES
TO BECOME PART OF THAT FAMILY, WE MOVE AT DIFFERENT RATES, AND SOME
CHOOSE NOT TO MOVE AT ALL.
BUT I HOPE YOUR FAMILY IS
A BIT DIVIDED BY JESUS. I HOPE THERE IS SOMEONE IN YOUR FAMILY THAT
MAKES THE REST OF THE FAMILY A LITTLE NERVOUS, MAYBE A LITTLE
RESENTFUL – MAYBE A LITTLE JEALOUS – BECAUSE THAT SOMEONE IS
OBVIOUSLY STRIVING TO DRAW CLOSER TO JESUS AND BECOME PART OF HIS
FAMILY. AND IF THAT'S THE CASE, MAYBE ANOTHER MEMBER OF THE FAMILY
WILL BEGIN TO LOOK AT HIS OR HER OWN LIFE, AND BE MOVED TO CHANGE, TO
REPENT, TO START TAKING THE SPIRITUAL JOURNEY SERIOUSLY. AND I PRAY
THAT ONE BY ONE, EVERYONE IN THE FAMILY WILL SOONER OR LATER BE
MOVED, NOT TO IMITATE THE ONE WHO IS FARTHEST ALONG ON THE SPIRITUAL
JOURNEY, BUT TO FIND THEIR OWN PATH, AND BEGIN THEIR OWN WALK. A
LITTLE SPARK CAN GROW INTO A FIRE, AND JESUS CAME TO CAST FIRE UPON
THE EARTH.
YOU CAN'T GET TO HEAVEN
BY YOURSELF. YOU CAN ONLY GET TO HEAVEN BY BEING PART OF THE FAMILY
WHICH JESUS STARTED. OUR HUMAN FAMILIES ARE JUST SHADOWS OF THE REAL
FAMILY, AND OUR FAMILIES ARE MEANT TO BE GATEWAYS TO THAT FAMILY THAT
WILL LAST FOREVER, WHERE THERE IS NO DIVISION, WHERE ALL OF US WILL
BE UNITED IN OUR BROTHER JESUS AND HIS FATHER.
