Fire and Division in the Gospel

Dear brothers and sisters, may God never cease to proclaim His word in His Church from this place. This word never passes away, it is a life-giving word that calls us to live accordingly. God's word often comforts, uplifts, illuminates many things for us, and answers the questions of our lives. Therefore, it may happen that we face difficulty when we try to understand today's words of Christ, which are addressed to us. The speech about fire, suffering, and division can be confusing at first and make it difficult to understand what the Lord wishes to convey to us. Yet we are aware that God's word is true and infallible, and that in Him God has revealed the mystery of Himself and His plans concerning humanity. Therefore, even in today's divine Word, we must find our Lord's encouraging voice. At first glance, the fire of which Jesus speaks seems to contradict the peace-loving image we hold of Jesus.

But the Church Fathers recognized the power of the Holy Spirit in this fire long ago. Thus, Saint Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria, teaches that Christ's fire is not a fire of destruction, but of salvation. Humanity has grown spiritually cold because of sin and has distanced itself from God. Christ comes to set human hearts ablaze with the power of His Spirit, with the power of the Holy Spirit and the proclamation of the Gospel. This fire destroys sin and restores life to man. Saint Ambrose also speaks of the fire of God's love, which cleanses man's heart. It burns away what is sinful and unclean, and awakens in man a longing for God. They remind the disciples in Emmaus of the earthly reality, whose hearts burned while the risen Christ explained the Scriptures to them. Thus, meeting Christ sets the heart ablaze and changes a person's life. If we delve into all these writings, brothers and sisters, we will see that fire is precisely the sign of the divine presence.

God appears to Moses in the burning bush, a pillar of fire leads Israel through the desert, and the Lord appears in fire on Mount Sinai. Thus, fire is a sign of divine holiness and presence, but also of action. Fire cleanses, separating the precious from the worthless, the clean from the unclean. Therefore, fire is also a sign of judgment, before which we will all one day have to appear. Saint John the Baptist proclaims that Jesus is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire, and Luke in the Acts of the Apostles describes the event of Pentecost, namely the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the first Church, precisely through the image of tongues of fire. Christ's mission, death, and resurrection open the way to the gift of the Holy Spirit, which will flood the Church and spread the Gospel throughout the world. Jesus, seeing all this in the Spirit, cries out: How I wish it were already ablaze!

These words, brothers and sisters, can be understood as an expression of Jesus' burning desire for what He came for to be fulfilled. Oh, if only it were already ablaze! Jesus is on His way to the Lord, and within Him is a great yearning for the Father's will to be fulfilled, for every person to know God and the love with which He loves us. But humanity, wounded by sin, often faces the challenge of how to fully accept God's will, how to accept God Himself. Jesus' saving mission therefore leads through suffering and the cross, as He Himself says: I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed!

The word to baptize is described in Greek by the verb baptizo, which originally means: to submerge. Jesus, brothers and sisters, will completely submerge Himself in His suffering to bring us salvation. He will not endure just a little suffering, but will submerge Himself completely in pain and death, through which He opens the way for us to new life. Brothers and sisters, this is the Lord's encouragement to me that we should completely submerge ourselves in God's will if we want God's grace to be manifested in our lives. Jesus shows us that we cannot belong only partially to God, or fulfill only a part of His will, but we must belong entirely to Him, we must plunge into His Holy Will. Just as water completely covered those of old in baptism when they were immersed in the baptismal font, so too must we allow God's grace to completely envelop us.

But Jesus is aware that accepting God's will can often lead to division among people. Not because division is the goal of God's will, but because people respond differently to God's call. Some accept His word, others reject it. Some want to live according to His commandments, others resist this. We often see cases just like this. When someone wants to belong entirely to God, division can arise, not only with those who do not want this, but a kind of division can also arise within the person themselves, who struggles and fights with their fragile humanity to accept God's will and understand what the will of God means in length, breadth, and eternity.

and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God, as Saint Paul says in today's first reading. This struggle, brothers and sisters, lasts forever within us, in our relationships, in the world. The world tries to sustain itself and remains in its apparent self-sufficiency until it is touched by the fire of the Holy Spirit and cleansed. Christ does not bring us an apparent peace that stems from silencing the truth or avoiding conflicts. He brings us true peace, the peace that stems from reconciliation with God, the conversion of the heart, and living in His love. The Church has also recognized the numerous spiritual fruits of Međugorje, especially conversions, the renewal of the prayer life, receiving the sacraments, and returning to God. In these fruits we can also recognize the workings of the Holy Spirit.

Those who have allowed this holy fire, this Holy fire, to cleanse them here have often experienced their separation from their previous life. For the Marian spirituality nurtured here calls for a radical change of life, conversion, prayer, and unconditional belonging to God. And the testimonies of these believers are moving, moving just like this Gospel passage here, but at the same time beautiful, because after the cleansing fire comes beauty, freedom, and peace, the fruits of the present God. Today we began the Mariological Days here in Međugorje. During these few days, we once again place the figure of the Blessed Virgin Mary before our eyes and hearts, and we allow her, as a caring mother, to guide us on how to fulfill God's will, how to belong entirely to Him. For no one was as open to God's will, as a vessel, as Mary. By her words, let it be done to me according to your word, she completely opened her heart to God. She did not seek her own heart without the difficulties and crosses of life, but remained faithful even when she stood beneath her Son's cross. Mary thus teaches us that belonging completely to God does not mean the absence of suffering, but that fidelity which does not extinguish even in the greatest trials. Brothers and sisters, somehow this came to my mind.

In any case, today we celebrate the memorial of Pope Saint John Paul II, whose motto is Totus Tuus, totally yours. From his youth, he had a deep devotional reverence for the Blessed Virgin Mary. In his life, it was visible how much he trusted in her maternal intercession and how much he strove, following her example, to belong entirely to Christ. Through Mary's intercession and example, he opened himself ever more fully to Christ's grace, and with his life and ministry he testified how holiness grows from total dedication to God. He testifies to this for us today as well, and invites all of us to look to Mary, to see our Mother in her.

our own helper, our patroness, to see in her that purity and beauty which is not found in any other creature, so that the beauty of her being, protected from every stain and sin, may draw us to God so that we may be entirely His. For Mary, she never keeps our gaze upon herself, but always leads us to her Son, Jesus. She teaches us how to open our hearts to the fire of His love and allow this fire to completely transform us. Therefore, at the end of our homily, let us close with the words of Pope Saint John Paul II, who prayed thus to the Blessed Virgin Mary on December 8, 2004. Immaculate Virgin Mother, in the Year of the Eucharist grant us to be renewed with faith and fervent love, to celebrate and honor the holy mystery of the Body and Blood of Christ. Woman of the Eucharist, in your school teach us to remember the wondrous deeds that God continually performs in human hearts. With loving maternal care, Mary Virgin Mother, always guide us on the good path. Amen.