August 18, 2025
Paulist Fr. Rich Andre preached this homily on the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) on August 17, 2025 at Old St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Chicago, IL. The homily is based on the day’s readings: Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10; Psalm 40; Hebrews 12:1-4; and Luke 12:49-53.
Today is Missionary Co-op Weekend. After I give a short homily on the first reading and the gospel, a representative will speak about the mission and ministry of Solidarity Bridge, based in Evanston, and relate it to our second reading, from Hebrews.
The first reading and the gospel tell of the consequences of preaching God’s truth: Jeremiah is left for dead by King Zedekiah, and Jesus brings divisions within families. However, if we study the passages more deeply, we may conclude that the fire that Jesus brings to the earth is not meant to be a fire of destruction.
But on this Missionary Co-op Sunday, let us focus instead on the passage from Hebrews. Let us consider how all missionaries are filled with the fire of the Holy Spirit, joining in “so great a cloud of witnesses,” proclaiming the joy of the gospel.
For those times when we have failed to find joy in the gospel, but have instead used the gospel to promote division, we ask God for mercy.
I confess…
Jeremiah is the best example of the unpopular prophet. For decades, he had been prophesying the ugly but obvious truth: corrupt kings had made the nation of Judah too weak to resist outside attack. At the time of our first reading, the Babylonian Empire has already laid siege to Jerusalem and taken thousands of aristocrats and priests into captivity. Even then, Zedekiah, the last king of ancient Judah, wants Jeremiah punished for predicting the annihilation of Jerusalem and Judah.
When Jesus says that he wishes the world was “already blazing,” is he implying that those who preach the gospel will inevitably bring division in the same way that Zedekiah wanted to punish Jeremiah? That there will be conflict between those who follow the gospel and those who don’t? Three years ago, it suddenly dawned on me that that’s not what Jesus is saying. Jesus spoke about divided households in the previous chapter of Luke. We’re much more familiar with how it’s phrased in the Gospel of Matthew, because Abraham Lincoln quoted it: “no… house divided against itself will stand” (12:25). Because of Lincoln, many of us interpret Jesus’ endorsement of division as being a division between the good and the evil relatives within a single household.
But now, it seems to me that the only divisions that Jesus desires are divisions within the ranks of evildoers. If Satan is divided against himself, how, then, will his kingdom stand? (Ref. Matthew 12:26.) The fire Jesus wishes to bring is a cleansing fire, not a destructive fire.
In 1988, 36% of Yellowstone National Park was consumed by wildfire. It was scary to watch as thousands of firefighters and military personnel battled to protect buildings in the huge, sprawling park, even as they followed the new policy from scientists to allow the fires to burn unobstructed in the wilderness. Almost immediately after the fires died out, the wisdom of the scientists was proven. There was widespread destruction, but not total devastation. The soil was burned to a depth of only half an inch, leaving root systems intact. Very few mammals died. And there was an abundance of new life. Certain types of plants began to grow within days, and the wildflower blooms in the next few years were remarkable. Aspen trees, which had been crowded out over the decades by conifers, came back in abundance, even in places up to 9 miles away from any known aspens growing before the fire. The aspen, in turn, gave additional food supplies to elk. No human intervention was necessary to restore life to Yellowstone.
Jesus may have said that those who were persecuted would be blessed, but he didn’t say the same about the hell-raisers and the overconfident. Blessed are the peacemakers. Blessed are the humble of heart. We ask the Holy Spirit to fill us with the fire of love, not the fire of destruction.
To share with us about how one missionary organization sows the seeds of joy, love, and peace while proclaiming the gospel, I now invite forward a representative of Solidarity Bridge to speak of their medical mission in Bolivia and Paraguay.