Mt 10.34-11.1 – Monday of the XV Week of Ordinary Time
«I have come to throw fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already lit!».
This expression that Jesus uses in today’s Gospel reminds us that the presence of Christ in our lives should be recognizable above all by one thing: the passion with which we live. A Christian is not a Christian because he lives in a lukewarm, resigned or simply correct manner. He is a Christian because the encounter with Jesus lit a fire inside himthat is, a greater desire to live, to love, to spend oneself, to find a meaning for which it is worth giving up one’s existence.
Authentic faith does not cool life, but makes it more intense. Precisely this passion, however, also forces us to re-establish priorities. Jesus uses very strong words when he talks about the relationship with father, mother, children and the people we love. He is not asking us to love them less. He is reminding us that no creature can take the place of God. In fact, we can transform even the most beautiful realities of our lives into idols. A relationship, a child, a marriage, a job, a vocation can become something absolute. And when this happens, what should make us happy instead begins to enslave us.
Only God can occupy the center without destroying everything else. Putting Christ first doesn’t mean taking away space from the people we love. It means learning to love them better. When we ask someone to be the god of our life, we impose on them a burden that no human being can bear. However, when God returns to the center, every relationship finds its freedom and its truth. This is why Jesus concludes with a paradox: «Whoever finds his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Those who live trying only to protect, preserve and save themselves end up losing the very taste of existence. Those who find something worth giving themselves for finally discover life.
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