Disagreements, disputes, division, discord

Bishop Scott Bullock
The Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
August 17, 2025

Before I was bishop I was assigned to some very small rural parishes in eastern Iowa. One of the parishes was for 14 years. They had me for a long time. So I got to know the families pretty well there. One Easter morning a family I knew really well was seated right in the front row of the church — a mom, dad, and two small boys. As many parents know this is one of the strategies for young folks — keep them up in front where their attention can be held during Mass. Of course there’s that other strategy, right? Have them as far from the front as possible so they don’t grab the attention of the entire congregation. 

So after communion on that Easter morning one of our finest cantors, whose name was Barb, sang a song of reflection entitled “Have You Heard the Good News?” It was a soulful, bluesy number, one she sang with great faith, joy, and gusto. It began something like this: “Have you heard the good news? Jesus Christ is risen from the dead…” 

Well as she coursed through this gospel tune and one of the two boys from the family really got into it. Moved by the Holy Spirit he raised one of his hands and, in a good evangelical tradition, began swaying back and forth from the front row praising the Lord of the resurrection. As Barb hurtled toward the end of this hymn of praise, her singing became only more fervent and joyful as did the waving of this boy’s arm. The congregation became enchanted with the joy of the little boy. It was a pure delight until his arm careened out of control and smashed into the head of his brother. Then the fight was on. Pushing ensued, fists flew, and mom, the referee, leapt into action. She grabbed each son with a different hand — moms have two hands for just this purpose — and dragged them down the side aisle out of the back of the church. After Mass I saw mom and I offered the Easter greeting, “Jesus is alive. I’m glad your sons are still, too.” 

Disagreements, disputes, division, discord. Haven’t we all known such things in our families? Why must it be? Yet Jesus himself predicted such realities when he says of his followers in today’s Gospel, “Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, rather division. From now a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three; a father divided against his son and the son against his father, a mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

So, what a puzzling message this is from the prince of peace, and yet it must be since he is also the Lord of love. For in our fallen human condition we simply don’t always tend toward love, do we? And as Jesus shows the love of God in Christ will confront the fall in each of us, contend with it, and overcome it. This confrontation between God’s love and the evil that often, too, populates our world Jesus predicts will produce division — a battle between love and hate, love and anger, love and envy. Loving those deadly things that have affected all of us. And the confrontation will usually be a real struggle as love vanquishes hate.

So, our Gospel calling demands that we confront the darkness of the world, especially even in our families with the confrontation of love. The confrontation that says love will conquer this division. When the world says live and let live, we say love is the way to live, and love must insist that the choices made in life — choices of self-destruction, anger, fear, and hurt — must be confronted with the choice of love. So, for children and for adults this can be seen as maybe sometimes a bit judgmental as in love and point out those deadly things in others’ lives. And the world would be right, but the judgment is one of love of the choices of sin and darkness in our lives. 

So, have you heard the good news? Love has come to confront anger, fear, doubt, and hurt and vanquish it. Though it might be like a wrestling match to get there, we’re called to enter into the battle with love. We are to call each other to insist we all live as Jesus has commanded us to love and live more fully, and the key to successful living of this vocation of each of us is to renounce anger and always try to act with love. 

Lord, we pray now, come and fill us with your love for this sacred work. To divide our children, parents, families, and friends from the darkness of the choices that deprive of life, and lead them with a firm loving hand out of darkness into the life you desire for us. A life of love. The circle in fact is a sacred one calling each other into the kingdom of love that Christ brought. Though it is often a struggle in this fallen world, the kingdom of love is to redeem the world one family in time, is indeed good news for us all.