"I have come to bring fire on the earth."

The fire that Jesus brought on earth was the Father's love, the incomprehensible love that was made vivid in our hearts through the wisdom of the Cross. The disciples could not accept and were divided in their understanding that Jesus had to be crucified for the deliverance of Israel. Yet Jesus had already foretold his Passion on various occasions. Sometimes, we close our hearts to the word of God that calls us to repent, to walk the narrow road, and to enter the narrow gate. We rather like to stick to our own easy ways, to our empty ambitions and desires. Our hard-headedness leads us to the realm of the darkness where we lose ourselves in the unquenchable desires for self-fulfilment. As a result of alienating ourselves from the source of life, we become alienated from ourselves, our family, and our colleagues. Although Jesus mentions this separation or division, it is not what He desires for us. We are invited to simply follow His word because, as the Psalmist tells us: "The eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine."