A sermon on Luke 12:49-53

By Fr. Mike Paraniuk
HCP columnist

I was taught all my life Jesus is the Prince of Peace. Jesus taught that the Kingdom of God is a kingdom of peace. 

Didn't Jesus say, "These things I have spoken to you that in Me you might have peace." (John 16:33.) But in Luke 12:51 Jesus says this: "Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no; but rather division." 

I feel like Vinnie Barbarino from the TV show "Welcome Back, Kotter" when he would always say, "I'm so confused!" What is Jesus trying to say?

If you have faith in Jesus, you will know peace even in the midst of conflict. Jesus offers to the believer a deep down inner peace of calmness and contentment in the face of chaos and strife. I used to see bumper stickers which read "Know Jesus, Know peace. No Jesus, No peace." Permit me to explain this using an incident in my life when I stood up for my faith in Jesus.

At 23 years of age in 1974, I left the seminary to discover life outside its enclosed walls. I got a job as Assistant Office Manager at the Paul Smith Company in Madisonville where they made coils for car radios. I was the only person of Polish decent and the only Catholic in the office. Oh boy did I become the butt of Polish and Catholic jokes. 

Here is one of many examples: "Polish knock-knock joke: Friend A: 'Knock-Knock'... Friend B: 'Come in!'" Next followed the Catholic jokes: "My Catholic wife got me to believe in religion. Until I married, her I didn’t believe in Hell."

I usually just laughed them off. I wanted to "fit in" with the guys. Being the butt of jokes can be hurtful. It definitely lowered my self esteem. The day came when I stood up for myself. I put my faith on the line.

I consider the hours between noon and three o'clock on Good Friday as a holy time to honor the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for my sins. I always went to church during those hours. I asked my boss permission to leave work at noon so I could attend Good Friday services. 

I told him I will stay after work to make up for the time I was gone. He refused, ordering me not to leave. I told him, "I love my job but I love Jesus more." 

He replied, "If you leave, don't come back. You will be fired." 

I left. While in church, I just stared at the crucifix with Jesus hanging there in agony. I thought to myself, "What I do for you is nothing compared what you did for me."

The next day I received a call from the big boss who managed the entire company. "Report to my office at 9 a.m. We need to talk." He invited me to his office. I was so nervous. 

He said, "Mike, you broke company policy by your disobedience. I should fire you." 

I immediately thought of how am I going to pay my bills. 

The boss continued, "But I won't fire you. I have lung cancer. I've come to realize what's important in life. When I stand before God, He won't care how much money I made. You put everything on the line for your beliefs. That's what is most important. I'm grooming you to be the next office manager when John retires in a few years. If you bring the same passion you have for God to your work, our company will succeed." 

When I came back to work, all the Polish and Catholic jokes stopped. I earned their respect by standing up for my belief in God. The fire of Jesus burned away my cowardliness. Jesus gave me the strength to witness to my faith.

I never got to be the office manager. The next year, I reentered the seminary. On the day I left the company, Dave called me to his office again. He was not surprised by my decision to study for priesthood. He wished me well. His last words to me were, "Pray for me." 

He passed to God six months later.

Jesus said, "I have come to set the earth on fire."

The fire of Jesus will purify you. It will burn away your sin, burn away your doubts, burn away your fears, burn away your hate, burn away your pride, and burn away anything that is not of God in your soul. Once Jesus burns away your old self, your soul will be cleared to be born again with God's seeds of love, faith and the true peace only He can give when like Jeremiah you are stuck in the mud.

There is a joke about firemen called to a burning pub. They drag out a patron and asked him how the fire started. 

"I don't know," he says. "It was on fire when I went in there." 

When you come to Jesus, the fire of His love will already be burning brightly for you. It is a flame that is never extinguished. 

Blessings...Fr. Mike.