20 Sunday in Ordinary Time
Reading I: Jeremiah 38:4-6,8-10 II: Hebrew 12:1-4

⁴⁹ "I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!
⁵⁰ There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!
⁵¹ Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.
⁵² From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three;
⁵³ a father will be divided against his son and a son against his father, a mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother, a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law."

• Context: From the 13th Sunday in ordinary time, we follow Jesus' journey from his Galilean home toward passion in Jerusalem (9:51-19:27). Right from the start of this journey, he was rejected, prompting James and John to suggest an immediate fiery judgment, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" (9:54). Jesus himself later warned of "fire and brimstone from heaven" (17:29) on judgment day.
• Another possible meaning of fire is the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:3).
• "How I wish it were already blazing!" Fire also carries a sense of urgency and intense passion.
• Fire can also purifies us from worldly attachments. In numerous passages about discipleship and judgment day, Jesus warns against stocking worldly wealth, as we read on the 18th Sunday about the rich fool building barns for a retirement that he did not have.
• The decision to follow Jesus or not will separate people.

Jesus urgently called us to follow Him completely now: Yes or no?

1. Is there an urgency and passion in my life? If so, what is it?
2. What are the costs to follow it: peace, money, time, relationships, etc.?
3. What would be the cost if I do NOT follow that passion now?

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A synthesis by the Vietnamese Christian Life (Dong Hanh) Community