Whom do we serve? To what or whom are we enslaved? If the answer is sin, Paul insists that this leads to death. The wages of sin is death - something to remember when the glitter and attractiveness of sin seems to captivate us. Paul invites us to serve God rather than sin, for that surely leads to life. The wages of faith is eternal life - again, to be meditated on when faced with struggles.

Jesus gives us an image that we are not used to. He has come to ignite a blazing fire on the earth, perhaps a fire of purification and cleansing. He probably upset his listeners by insisting that he had not come to bring peace, but division. He was going to set the members of every household against one another - scarcely the image of a 'prince of peace!' But this is a different sort of division. Those who take his message to heart and apply it to their lives will be rejected and persecuted by those who either misunderstand or reject his words. The world does not take kindly to the words of the Master. There is much resistance, even at times with the Church. This should neither surprise or upset us. If there is no resistance to our way of life, it is not a good sign. Perhaps our lives are not a challenge to the world or a sign of contradiction! Jesus is indeed the bearer of peace for the individual heart and for all those willing to walk his path.