29TH THURSDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Gospel (Luke 12:49-53) - THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE

“I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!” (Lk 12:49)

FIRST READING - Rom 6:19-23

"Now that you have been freed from sin and have become slaves of God."

A reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans

¹⁹ I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your nature. For just as you presented the parts of your bodies as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness for lawlessness, so now present them as slaves to righteousness for sanctification. ²⁰ For when you were slaves of sin, you were free from righteousness.^{[a] 21} But what profit did you get then from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. ²² But now that you have been freed from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit that you have leads to sanctification,^[b] and its end is eternal life. ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

GOSPEL OF THE DAY - Lk 12:49-53

"Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division."

✠From the Gospel according to Luke

⁴⁹ “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! ^50 [a]There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished! ⁵¹ Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. ⁵² From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three; ⁵³ a father will be divided against his son and a son against his father, a mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother, a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”

29TH THURSDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Gospel (Luke 12:49-53)

THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE

Dear People of God,

In today's Word of God, God wants everyone to know that He is the God of love. He always desires and yearns for the fire of His love to burn brightly among human beings. That fire of love is the fire of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the bond of love connecting humanity with God, uniting people with one another, and linking humanity with all of God's creation.

The words Jesus Christ spoke to His apostles in the past are also what He wants to say to all humanity today: “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!” This expresses His desire for the fire of love to burn brightly in the heart of each person.

For God's love to dwell and burn brightly in one’s heart, each person must continually strive to choose between God and the world. This very choice can lead to opposition between parents and children, and among siblings.

Whoever desires to have God's peace and happiness must bravely overcome difficulties and trials, even accepting opposition from family members in order to choose God above all else. Choosing God may bring suffering, but that suffering will lead to the glory and happiness of the Kingdom of Heaven in the life to come.

Therefore, today's Word of God calls on everyone:

• to wisely choose God, to cast aside all hatred, division, jealousy, and opposition brought by Satan himself, and to bravely follow the path of love of Jesus Christ — the path that brings peace and happiness in the Kingdom of Heaven.

• to be courageous in the face of the world’s opposition and persecution, walking the path of Jesus Christ — that is, to suffer with Him and carry the cross with Him to Calvary, so that we may also be resurrected in glory with Him in the eternal Kingdom of Heaven.

• to choose the peace of God, not choose the false peace of the world, for the peace of the world does not bring eternal life.

Thanks be to God. Amen.