today's reading for the mass was a difficult one. it talks about jesus bringing division instead of peace! please read luke 12:49-53. how can it be? our idea about jesus is someone nice, not some one who brings conflicts... then why this passage in the gospel?
well, i know one family that became chaotic and lost their peace because of Jesus. their daughter who is pretty, intelligent, brilliant, passed from a reputed institution with reputed post-graduate degree, and employed in a reputed company fell in love with jesus and felt that she has a call to religious life. terrible conflict in the family... even her brother who is a jy could not accept it. even today the family is divided on this issue...
well, jesus became the reason for the greatest conflict among the jews. some wanted to follow him... some wanted to eliminate him. finally the conflict and division ended up in violence - in his crucifixion... even in the early church, there were conflicts. one example could be that between peter and paul, regarding the jewish and gentile christians...
can conflict be part of the kingdom? i believe that conflict is also part of the kingdom. why? because of the above reasons... when we start taking jesus seriously, when we start contributing to his kingdom, vested interests of others can get affected. it can result in conflict and division...
there is conflict and division in the world. there is conflict in the kingdom. then what is the difference?... i believe that the way it is resolved is the difference. the world resolves it through violence, by eliminating the enemy. the kingdom resolves it by forgiveness, dialogue and other values... when it comes to marriage, the world resolves it thru divorce... but we, thru reconciliation...
no disciple is greater than the master... so be ready for conflicts... do not be surprised... especilly when we work together as a team... working together with donny and jacob for the christ college retreat was a challange. we 3 are different. our ideas are different. our approaches are different. the way we function are different. above all we 3 are people with strong openions and ideas. in spite of all this, the retreat was great... but what i cherish most is the fact that we became thick friends thru this program... we can transform our differences and conflicts into God experiences...
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