My dear brothers and sisters in Christ here in Hong Kong, Today's readings present us with a powerful and, at first glance, perhaps unse...
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ here in Hong Kong,
Today's readings present us with a powerful and, at first glance, perhaps unsettling message. We hear Jesus say in the Gospel, "I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!" He speaks not of a gentle peace, but of a kind of division, of families being set against one another. This sounds so unlike the Prince of Peace we know and love. But if we listen closely, we find that the fire Jesus speaks of is the fire of conviction.
The readings today are about the profound cost and ultimate victory of living a life of deep CONVICTION. We see it in our first reading, with the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah was a man of unshakeable conviction, a man who spoke the truth of God even when it was unpopular and dangerous. The leaders of his time couldn't stand it. They said he was "demoralizing the soldiers" and "seeking not the welfare of this people, but their harm." What did they do? They threw him into a muddy cistern to die. They thought they could silence his conviction by burying him in the mud. But an Ethiopian court official, Ebed-melech, acted with a courageous conviction of his own, and rescued the prophet. Jeremiah was saved, not by compromise, but by the quiet, resolute act of a single person.
This brings us to our second word: COURAGE. Courage is not the absence of fear; it is acting in spite of it. Think of Ebed-melech, a foreigner, a Cushite, who risked his own standing and perhaps his life to save a prophet others wanted dead. This is the kind of courage that comes from a deep-seated conviction. It is the same courage the author of the Letter to the Hebrews speaks of when he tells us to "run with perseverance the race that is set before us," with our eyes "fixed on Jesus." He reminds us that Jesus himself "endured the cross, despising its shame" for the sake of the joy that lay ahead. Our faith is not a comfortable stroll in the park; it is a race that requires courage to face hardships, even when we are tired, weary, and fainthearted.
I am reminded of a story about a young woman I knew who was a physical therapist. She had a deep Christian faith, and it was her dream to use her skills to serve the poor. She could have taken a high-paying job in a wealthy suburb, but her conviction led her to a small, underfunded clinic in a tough inner-city neighborhood. Her friends and family questioned her choice, asking if it was worth the low pay and the long hours. She’d smile and say, “I’m not working for a paycheck; I’m working for a purpose.”
One day, a young boy with cerebral palsy came to the clinic. His family had given up hope on his walking. He was withdrawn and refused to cooperate. My friend, the therapist, spent weeks with him, patiently and lovingly working through his resistance. Many times she was disheartened. She'd go home and pray for strength. One afternoon, after a particularly difficult session, the boy looked at her and said, "Why do you even bother with me?" With a heart full of compassion, she simply replied, "Because God hasn't given up on you, so I won't either." That was the moment of breakthrough. The boy began to trust her, and together they worked with fierce determination. After months of hard work, he took his first wobbly steps. The joy on his face, and the tears in his mother's eyes, were a testament to the power of conviction, courage, and above all, compassion.
This leads us to our third word: COMPASSION. The fire that Jesus wants to kindle is not a destructive fire, but a refining one. It’s a fire that burns away our selfishness, our pride, and our comfort so that we can be a people of compassion. The divisions Jesus speaks of are not meant to create hatred, but to force a choice. We are called to choose between the comfortable way of the world and the courageous, compassionate path of Christ.
The conviction of Jeremiah saved him from the cistern. The courage of Ebed-melech rescued a prophet. The compassion of a therapist helped a boy walk. These are all reflections of the ultimate conviction, courage, and compassion of Jesus Christ, who came to set our hearts ablaze with His love.
So today, let us ask ourselves: What is the fire of conviction burning in our hearts? Do we have the courage to live out our faith, even when it is difficult? And do we have the compassion to reach out to those who are suffering, to be the hands and feet of Christ in the world? Let us pray for the grace to be men and women of conviction, courage, and compassion, so that the fire of Christ’s love may blaze brightly through our lives, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.
Amen.
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