{"id":1888,"date":"2016-08-13T13:57:56","date_gmt":"2016-08-13T17:57:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=1888"},"modified":"2016-08-13T14:04:09","modified_gmt":"2016-08-13T18:04:09","slug":"20th-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-c-homily","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/20th-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-c-homily\/","title":{"rendered":"20th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C – Homily"},"content":{"rendered":"

20th<\/sup> Sunday in Ordinary Time<\/a>
\nJeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10
\nPsalm 40:2, 3, 4, 18 (14b)
\nHebrews 12:1-4
\nLuke 12:49-53<\/p>\n

Jesus tells us that he comes to bring division<\/em>, to set father against son and mother against daughter, and in-laws fighting.\u00a0 The thing is, we don\u2019t need Jesus help with this.\u00a0 We can find enough to fight with family about without Jesus\u2019 help.<\/p>\n

So what is Jesus getting at?<\/p>\n

Jesus\u2019 goal is not division.\u00a0 Jesus comes to bring us closer to God, to set our hearts on fire with faith.\u00a0 This should bring peace and tranquility but Jesus knows it doesn\u2019t for everyone.\u00a0 It isn\u2019t because what Jesus teaches is divisive in nature.\u00a0 Jesus\u2019 word brings division because not everyone accepts it.<\/p>\n

Some people reject the very notion that there is a God.\u00a0 Others accept that there is a God but they think they get to decide what is right and wrong rather than listening to what God says.<\/p>\n

We come here today because we realize we need God in our lives.\u00a0 We may not always be sure why.\u00a0 We may not understand all that God says to us.\u00a0 We may not have all the answers but we know our life is better when God is part of it.<\/p>\n

We can come to church to find safe\u00a0haven from the world we live in.\u00a0 This is a start but we need to take what we receive from God and proclaim it to the world.<\/p>\n

This is not easy because many people don\u2019t want to hear God\u2019s Word.\u00a0 This is nothing new.\u00a0 We see how Jeremiah was rejected and they planned for his death.<\/p>\n

Why?\u00a0 They claim that he is \u201cdemoralizing\u201d the people, making them feel down.\u00a0 This is because what they are doing is wrong and he is telling them so.\u00a0 They had turned away from God proclaimed as good.\u00a0 They also claim he was \u201cnot interested in the welfare of our people, but in their ruin<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 This is not true.\u00a0 Jeremiah was interested in their welfare.\u00a0 It\u2019s the precise reason that he was preaching to them, because he knew they were doomed if they did not repent.<\/p>\n

Even when they tried to kill him, Jeremiah persevered in proclaiming God\u2019s Word.\u00a0 He kept his eyes on the Lord and it brought division.<\/p>\n

Jesus came to reveal God\u2019s Word.\u00a0 Many listened and became his disciples.\u00a0 Many did not.\u00a0 There were people who plotted to kill Jesus because they didn\u2019t like what He was saying.<\/p>\n

Jesus came \u201cto set the earth on fire<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 This was not a destructive fire.\u00a0 It is the \u201cfire\u201d of the Holy Spirit in which He speaks.<\/p>\n

What does it mean to be on fire with the Holy Spirit?<\/p>\n

Some might say it is about the way we worship.\u00a0 Think of the churches were there is \u201crock\u201d music and swaying of hands and bodies.\u00a0 I believe the fire of the Holy Spirit is much deeper than that.\u00a0 We need to be reverent in our worship but open to be touched by the Word we hear to have our hearts set on fire with energy and enthusiasm.<\/p>\n

The Church\u2019s mission is to proclaim the gospel.\u00a0 If we<\/em><\/strong> want to do this we first need to both come to church for Mass and<\/em> pray.\u00a0 You come here to be rejuvenated in God\u2019s Word.\u00a0 Then, in turn, you are to take what you receive from the Lord and go out to the world.<\/p>\n

This can be a problem because people don\u2019t want to hear God\u2019s Word.\u00a0 Then remember St. Francis of Assisi\u2019s words to \u201cproclaim the gospel always, use words only when necessary.\u201d\u00a0 Proclaim the gospel by living it.<\/p>\n

Then your witness can give others a reason to come here.\u00a0 Then, we can work together to help them learn more.<\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t easy.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t easy for Jeremiah.\u00a0 It certainly wasn\u2019t easy for Jesus but God will give us what we need to persevere and keep \u201cour eyes fixed on Jesus.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10 Psalm 40:2, 3, 4, 18 (14b) Hebrews 12:1-4 Luke 12:49-53 Jesus tells us that he comes to bring division, to set father against son and mother against daughter, and in-laws fighting.\u00a0 The thing is, we don\u2019t need Jesus help with this.\u00a0 We can find enough to fight …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘20th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C – Homily’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMTPk-us","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1888"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1888"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1888\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1890,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1888\/revisions\/1890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}