With passion

This week, the scriptures provide us with examples of passionate commitment.  In the first reading, we hear the story of Jeremiah, someone who wasn't afraid to stand with the Lord.  When he dared to speak God's truth to a stubborn, corrupt king, he was thrown down a well (Jer 38:6) and left there to die, yet this did not deter him from his commitment to doing what God had asked of him.

This past week, we celebrated the Liturgical Memorial of Saint Maximillian Kolbe, a Polish Franciscan priest who lived in the early part of the 20th century.  Passionately committed to promoting devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, he established and supervised a monastery near Warsaw, operated an amateur radio station and was involved in many other organizations and publications, each one of them aimed at promoting faith among God's people.  During the second World War, he was imprisoned at Auschwitz.  There he volunteered to take the place of another man who had been condemned to die.  He is now part of the great cloud of witnesses (cf Heb 12:1), people of faith who have given their lives for the gospel.

In today's gospel, Jesus says that he will bring division, not peace (cf Lk 12:51).  When we face a hostile reaction for choosing to follow Christ, we are challenged to go deeper into the heart of Jesus.  How do we contend with the cross of insults, gossip, broken relationships and family quarrels?  The writer of the letter to the Hebrews challenges us to look to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith (Heb 12:2).  Jesus presents us blameless before his Father.  Sometimes, along the road that leads us to our ultimate goal, we encounter humiliation, but this is the road that leads us to eternity.

The Holy Spirit provides us with the skills we need to remain committed to following Jesus.  We can even accept suffering if we understand it as having redemptive value according to God's plan.  If we truly embrace this truth, we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength (cf Phil 4:13).