Homily for the 20th Sunday of Ordinary Time, August 17, 2025. The Gospel of St. Luke 2:49-53. Theme: The Cost of Discipleship
This Sunday’s Gospel presents us with an unexpected image of Jesus that seems like an “about face” change in personality. Most people tend to think of him as a gentle spiritual preacher of universal love, and of course, there’s some truth to that image. But the Gospels also present us with a Jesus who is bold and demanding, such as when he proclaimed that loving and following him must come first among our many relationships (see Matthew 10:37). This is the fiery-spirited Jesus that St. Luke is showing us in today’s Gospel. Like Jeremiah in our first reading, Christ is speaking the truth to us even if it makes us uncomfortable.
I’m sure it sounds quite shocking to hear that our friendship with Christ can alienate us from loved ones and even give rise to the destruction of relationships. And yet that’s exactly what happened to so many converts, especially but not exclusively, in the first few centuries of Christianity. Before the Church became a legal religion of the Roman Empire in the 4th century, following Jesus was often a heart-wrenching decision that tore families apart. For example, the young brave virgin-martyrs, Saints Barabra and Dymphna, were beheaded by their own fathers because they refused to deny Christ! Professing faith in Christ often meant being cut off from the social safety nets of family, income and protection.
And so, the early Church made converts pass through a testing-time that was several years long before being baptized! They had to be convinced of who and what Jesus was and prove that they were not simply giving in to a passing fascination. And because the stakes can still be high when choosing to become a Christian we still require that the unbaptized go through a time of intense focus and personal examination through the OCIA (formerly called RCIA). It’s not as long as it was in ancient times but it still has the exact same purpose: to help them discern if they truly want to follow Christ even at the cost of potentially disrupting some of their relationships.
But you know, this upset in relationships wasn’t just confined to the early Christians. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first American-born saint, was related to the Roosevelts and came from among the most upper class families of colonial New York. George Washington and some of the Founding Fathers of our nation were not just names to her but actual social acquaintances. Even though newly widowed and in dire need, she was shunned by family and friends when she became Catholic, leaving her with only a handful of relationships still intact. But this cross of suffering which she embraced for her fidelity to Christ brought about many blessings. Some of her relatives and friends were later drawn to Catholicism and with a couple of them she founded the first religious sisterhood in the brand new USA. They were called the Sisters of Charity and started the Catholic parochial school system which spread throughout the nation.
But you know, being harassed or even facing death because of our Faith happens today in many nations and cultures. And it can even happen right here in the USA, in Marin County because people today do not like to hear that they are being wayward in their moral behavior anymore than they did way back in Jeremiah’s or Jesus' times. When the Gospel of Christ conflicts with popular cultural thought there is bound to be friction. And when the teachings of our deeply cherished faith oppose the moral standards of our family, friends, or co-workers the sword of division can become very sharp. Our serious personal fidelity to the Word of God can make others uneasy and cause a torrent of hurtful accusations to rain down upon us. But the witness of our unswerving fidelity to Jesus, even above our most precious relationships, is powerful and can cause others to pause and ponder. Many have been brought to Christ by just such an example.
At those times when we find ourselves thinking that it would be so much easier to just go along to get along, we need to take time out and pray from the heart. We need to re-energize our love for Jesus by warming ourselves at the fire of faith that He came to set ablaze on planet Earth, the fire He talks about in today’s Gospel. It’s a spiritual fire, a holy fire, that will invigorate us. It’s the fire of God’s Love that engulfed the heart of Jesus and motivated Him in all that He did. It’s the fire of the Holy Spirit burning within us so that through us the light of truth and goodness can shine upon a very dark and confused world.
