The Holy Priest-Martyr Pancratius, Bishop of Tauromenia (1st-2nd c.)
Read
Romans 14:9-18; Matthew 12:14-16, 22-30
I remember hearing on more than one occasion a person in the public eye explaining his position on a particular issue with “While I personally believe x, y, and z, my public opinion is a, b, & c.” This response creates the impression that one can divide themselves in two as if we can hold contrary views at the same time without some sort of interior confusion.
Our Christian Faith is not a “Sunday-only” proposition. We are not called to be Christians only on Sunday and live as “worldly” people the other six days of the week. We may think this is possible, to live a divided life, but at some point in our life, one side will be absorbed by the other. More often than not, the result is that our Christian life is absorbed and destroyed by the worldly life.
Christ reminds us in today’s Gospel, that “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand” (Matthew 12:25). Brothers and sisters in Christ, we cannot live a divided life. Our Christian faith must inform our daily lives. Without it, our Christian Faith is threatened by the worldly abyss.
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