—Gospel of Luke, chapter 12:49–53

Hardly a week passes when we don’t see on television or read in the printed media the sad news of senseless shootings and other acts of violence in our cities and neighborhoods. People wonder, “what’s going on?” as our society seems to be coming unglued by the wanton acts of murder and aggression against innocent people somewhere in our country and around the world. It would appear that the destructive forces of evil are winning against the better angels of our nature. Good people are being severely challenged and are hard pressed to know what to do about this.

The gospel of Luke, chapter 12:49–53, offers an heroic solution to this scourge of hatred that is plaguing our society. Jesus makes it clear that His mission is “to set the earth on fire” by His radical message of love. Make no mistake about it! This gospel message is indeed a call to war: not a war against other people but a war against sin and corruption; not a war against people whom we perceive as evil, but a war against evil itself.

Scripture scholars tell us that Jesus, in Luke, chapter 12, is talking about the inevitable consequence of His radical message which puts the children of God in opposition to the children of this world. The Gospel divides the world into two camps: the camp of the believers and the camp of the unbelievers. There is a perpetual conflict between these two groups as one group strives to purify the world of evil and the other tries to pull it down to hell. These two groups do not live in different parts of the world. They live side by side in the same neighborhood, sometimes under the same roof, and even within the same people themselves as they struggle with the forces of good and evil.

Jesus’s baptism of fire is not a call to war against nationalities, cultures, creeds or ideologies, but a war that confronts evil in our own natures and in the natures of those who are dear to us; such as father, sister, son, mother, daughter, mother-in-law, daughter-in-law ( Luke 12 : 53 ). The parable of the wheat and the weeds also deals with this perennial struggle within human nature itself (Matthew 13:24-43).

The forces of destruction are constantly warring within us. They are the Seven Deadly Sins of Pride (self-righteousness); Covetousness (greed and seeking material prosperity at the expense of one’s soul); Lust (sexual abuse of minors, pornography, and treating women as objects of pleasure); Anger (bitterness, hate, and bearing grudges); Gluttony (excessive eating and drinking); Envy (self-hatred, and disinterested rivalry); Sloth (laziness or wanting success without working for it).

The destructive consequence of these evil tendencies is Injustice which has left a trail of misery throughout the history of humankind. But, the power of love is stronger than the power of hatred. Look at what just happened in El Passo, Texas! The tragedy of the killings was followed by an enormous outpouring of love, especially during the funeral for the wife of a bereaved husband who lived alone.

If we declare battle against the sinister forces we will be fighting the fight of our lives, the one that Jesus wants His followers to ignite!

Those who engage in this war can expect it to get down and dirty because those who have much to lose will not give up easily. It has always been like that. The important thing is to maintain integrity of spirit and of character while engaged in this struggle.

Jesus did not escape suffering and death in His fight against evil. He is our model, and He shows us the way.

The good news is that He overcame the evil of the world and rose from the dead. He lives!

Jesus will never abandon us if we embrace His purifying baptism of fire against the forces of destruction within ourselves and in the world.

—Fr. Hugh Duffy