Daily Gospel Reflection
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August 17, 2025
Jesus said to his disciples:
“I have come to set the earth on fire,
and how I wish it were already blazing!
There is a baptism with which I must be baptized,
and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!
Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth?
No, I tell you, but rather division.
From now on a household of five will be divided,
three against two and two against three;
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.”
Reflection
When reading today’s gospel, it shakes me, and I find it to be completely counterintuitive to my senses and beliefs. I am an Italian American—our number one rule is to love and support our families! A family divided is a family in ruin! And yet, as I reflect upon this passage, I realize the most important rule: God comes first. Thus, how do I reconcile these two divergent beliefs?
Although I find the words to be unsettling, I realize that Jesus is calling us to action; he wants us to put our faith in God first. In my life, I have always put my family first, although I realize that it is not what we are being called to do. By focusing my heart and mind on God and placing God above all else, I am being asked to give my family into God’s care, too.
All of the relatively frivolous things that consume and worry me for my wife and children (especially my children!), fall to the wayside when I am in prayer and focus my thoughts on God. My fears and concerns are no longer that important, and a peace comes upon me. My faith allows me to handle all of life’s worries, ups and downs, and it is this faith that allows us to get through our lives here on earth.
Thus, I realize not to fear the words and meaning in today’s passage. Instead, we should focus on the greater message being sent: place God first in our lives, and everything else will fall into place, no matter where the road takes us.
Prayer
Father all-powerful, you sent the Holy Spirit into the world to set our hearts on fire. May the grace we receive through your Spirit help us to heal the divisions that separate us from our brothers and sisters. Help us to be zealous advocates of your undying love for humanity, so that all people will work to make you known, loved, and served. We make this prayer through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Clare of Montefalco led a convent in 13th-century Italy, and did so with such holiness that she inspired many to seek perfection by imitating her example.
As a young woman, Clare gathered with a number of her own sisters and friends to live in Christian community together. They adopted a rule of life based on the Franciscan order, and one of Clare’s sisters was later chosen to lead a convent in Montefalco, Italy, under the Augustinian rule of religious life.
When her sister died, Clare, already known for her holiness, was asked to lead the community. Her devotion and personal prayer inspired the community to greater faithfulness.
Miracles were attributed to her as well as supernatural gifts and capacities, which she used to serve others. She had a great devotion to the suffering and death of Jesus and told a sister, “If you seek the cross of Christ, take my heart; there you will find the suffering Lord.” After her death, her community was in the process of removing her heart to place it in a reliquary (a practice not uncommon at the time), when they discovered that the muscle fibers of her heart held a perfect image of Jesus on the cross.
She died in 1308, and her body remained incorruptible. In 1881, a visiting reporter beheld her face and hands and noted that she appeared to be simply asleep. Her relics rest in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart.
St. Clare of Montefalco, your physical heart was found to bear the image of the crucifixion—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Clare of Montefalco is in the public domain. Last accessed March 27, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
