First, the sword here is not to be understood as an actual military weapon. Jesus’ Church is not a military machine, at least, not in the earthly sense. The Apostles’ were certainly not tasked with converting people at sword point.
Rather, Jesus’ sword is spiritual; by the sword of his word, his teachings, the way of wickedness is clearly severed from the way of righteousness. Jesus divides and separates us from all that keeps us from a close, intimate, personal relationship with Him. He wants full communion with us and nothing less. He has come to divide us — to tear us from relationships with people and things that are keeping us from being closer to Him.
Jesus here foreshadows the division that will take place at the end of time when the righteous who choose the path of life are ultimately separated from those who choose the path of death. In Luke’s Gospel, the Lord even says, “I have come not to bring peace but division.” Everyone must choose, even if families become divided.
Responses to Jesus’ invitation will vary—from the full embrace of the saints to the hostile rejection of the godless, or rather, those who make themselves into their own gods. Jesus is also well aware, that this response of faith, or lack thereof, will cause discord—even hostility—within families.
I think Jesus’ teaching here is particularly challenging in our age of tolerance, which often preaches Jesus without the sword, Christianity without the call to repentance, or as St. John Paul called it, an age without “the sense of sin.”
I know it causes great pain to parents and grandparents when their children and grandchildren wander from the way of Christ. We fear for their souls, for we know hell is real, whether they acknowledge that or not. Our culture tells them that they are free to choose their own path. But Christ is clear, we must choose Him, His Church—those who reject his apostles, reject Him.
Great pain, great sadness. So we certainly redouble our prayers and efforts of sharing with them the saving faith, even when it causes a little tension around the dinner table. Yes, we possess the Truth it in its fullness, but we are called to share it gently, with the utmost patience. And, lest we become self-righteous, each of us must keep ourselves honest as well. We must examine the loyalties we continue to flirt with, the small compromises with selfishness.
May the choices we make today, the words we speak, bring us, and those around us closer to the Lord, that divided from sin, we may know the peace of communion with Him for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
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That our bishops and clergy may be zealous and clear in preaching and teaching the truth of the Gospel.
For our Holy Father’s prayer intention for the month of July: that our brothers and sisters who have strayed from the faith, through our prayer and witness to the Gospel, may rediscover the merciful closeness of the Lord and the beauty of the Christian life.
That our young people on summer vacation may be kept safe from the poisonous errors of our culture, and that their families may be places where the faith is practiced and cherished.
For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, the underemployed and unemployed, victims of natural disaster, war, and terrorism, for all those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today, for their comfort, and the consolation of their families.
For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, for the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, for the deceased priests and religious, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom.
Grant, we pray, O Lord, that your people may turn to you with all their heart, so that whatever they dare to ask in fitting prayer they may receive by your mercy. Through Christ our Lord.
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