Little acts of surrender that take me closer to the person God wants me to be. I’m probably not going to be doing that.īut in reality, doing the ‘will of the Father’ can be the little things in life that have a cumulative affect on me and others. Today is the memorial of Saint Francis Xavier, one of the founders of the Jesuits, who followed the will of the Father and spent most of his life doing missionary work in Asia. At first blush, the ‘will of the Father’ seems rather imposing, too far beyond my reach. Just as people can recognize the ego at work behind the actions of another, people can also recognize the fullness of God at work behind your actions.In the quote from today’s gospel passage, I think this is Jesus’ way of saying ‘actions speak louder than words’. Sometimes that might be an act of kindness or gratitude. Sometimes that response might be nothing more than a deep, cleansing sigh. In other words, when division arises in your life, respond from the fullness of God within, not from the fullness of your ego. Is there anger? Pride? Selfishness? Envy? Empty yourself of these, and make room for feelings of joy, patience, gratitude, and kindness. When you look around and see nothing but division, it might be good to also take a look into your heart. When we’re filled with the fullness of God, there is another type of division, a division that separates us from the lure and attraction of the idols in our world and thereby brings us closer to the one true God. In other words, when we’re filled with these dark emotions, there is one type of division. “May Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith…so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Eph 3:14-19) In Saint Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he offers a way to handle division in the form of a blessing: They flow from the fullness of God within. They’re fueled by the Spirit of God in us. This division is not fueled by these dark emotions or other vices like envy, greed, and lust. His message was divisive but his purpose was not to separate us but to bring us closer to the love of God. There is a different type of division – the division that Jesus speaks. More importantly, keeps us from engaging others on a deeper level as we tiptoe around eggshells. This type of division keeps us up at night and makes us feel trapped. We’ll come back to puff up our own self-righteousness, add fuel to our anger, and feed our fear. They know that when these three emotions are activated, we’ll keep coming back. A study said that social media and cable news create division by prompting three powerful emotions: They’ve found that creating division is an effective way of getting what they want. But even our politicians want to create division, despite their messages of unity.Ĭable news wants more viewers, social media wants more clicks, and politicians want more votes. Social media and cable news come to mind. There are powerful forces that want to keep us divided. More division.” But I don’t think he was talking about the division tying everyone into knots. Jesus said to his disciples, “Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.” (Lk 12:50) When I read this gospel, I just wanted to say, “Gee thanks, Jesus. Just as there is long division and simple division, I’m thinking there is also good division and bad division.
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