This Sunday we hear from the Gospel of Luke and within just a few short verses we hear a great deal of pain, anguish and division—troubles—within the early Christian family, the Church.

Luke begins this Gospel with Jesus telling His  disciples that “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!” Oh, boy! He then speaks about a baptism that He must undergo and about the anguish it is causing Him. That is followed by a question of whether He brings peace or division to the world, and finally He speaks to His disciples about a household divided—Thanksgiving dinner might be “…a bumpy night!” as Bette Davis said, Jesus declares that fathers and sons will be against each other, and mothers and daughters as well as  mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law will be divided… notice that the ladies of the house get double billing...this should not be looked at from a sexist viewpoint but rather, as scripture scholars note, that in the early Church the prominent roles accorded to women.

But what is Jesus really speaking about? According to Biblical scholars, today Jesus is addressing the idea that while there were—and still are—struggles and challenges within the early Church and the Church today, what we must focus on is not so much the individual struggling points but rather the overall mission and ministry of the Church. And get on to the point of successfully carrying out the mission and ministry of Jesus Christ in our time and place by anticipating difficulties in the Church—just as we should anticipate difficulties in our families—and yet remain focused on the bigger picture: Mission and  Ministry.

What must we do to accomplish what has already been determined by God? Isn’t peace and justice for all  peoples the motivating force in our mission, rather than getting wrapped up in the minutia of a parish program or Church law? Should we not focus on the “pastoral aspect” of Church life, meeting people where they are in life,  educating them to the Truths of Christ, and then draw them more deeply into the love, compassion, teachings and truths with which Christ desires to enrich and transform our lives?

In Matthew (12:46-48) Jesus replies to this inquiry: “While he was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers appeared outside, wishing to speak with him. [Someone told him, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, asking to speak with you.”] But he said in reply to the one who told him, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.”

In our modern world today, we must come to acknowledge that fidelity to the Christian way of life will cause pain, anguish, suffering and hardship of all kinds. It is  not right for any of us to think that adopting a true  discipleship posture in our life means that life will be easy. Rather, the call to Discipleship in Christ means that we must be counter cultural—and that will not make for a simple or easy life. When we are counter cultural via our faith, we are opposed to the prevailing winds of society. We set ourselves “up against” the popular things of culture: convenience, for one rather than righteousness. And when we choose Christ today—in our families, at work, in school and with our “friends”—we are like fish swinging upstream and it will be difficult and tiring. Many of us might not think our faith positions us between a rock and a hard place at all. But then I would suggest that we might not be proclaiming our beliefs strongly at times. All one has to do is look to the media today: television shows more often than not portray the Christian or Catholic as an oddity in a sitcom; news outlets frequently portray those who are  defending life as Neanderthals coming out from under a rock and battling science at every turn; and movies portray the priest or nun as antiquated leftovers interfering with the progress of the modern and enlightened world. If you don’t believe me, just watch Big Bang Theory, Law and Order: SVU or the nightly news.

In the Gospels, Christ reminds us that “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me.” (John 12:24-26) You see, real faith  requires action and action is motivated by belief lived out.

Today’s Gospel reminds us that we must make choices to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, and that choice to follow Him—to be His servant and be where He is” will put us in direct conflict with the world and culture around us— families, friends, colleagues, and more—but we will not be standing alone, no indeed, we—His servants—will be where He is!