From today’s Scripture: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword.”—Mt 10:34

To embrace Jesus’ words with conviction does divide people. During a miners’ strike in Virginia, I spoke about just wages and workers’ issues according to Catholic Social Justice. I quoted the popes: Leo XIII, Pius XII, John XXIII, Paul VI, and John Paul II in my homily. I wanted people to know what the Catholic Church taught on workers’ rights.

A parishioner accused me of mixing politics with religion. Sadly, he walked out of the parish. Jesus warns us that if we take him seriously, there will be division among us. When our politics and faith meet, then this passage takes on real meaning.

Let us pray: Gracious God, you challenge us not to bring pain to us, but to encourage us to hear your voice in our lives and to grow in our faith.

Today’s author is Father Tom Charters, missionary pastor of St. Michael the Archangel in Unicoi County, Tennessee.

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