August 27, 2025

By Father William Muench
NCC columnist

Today, I am still thinking back to last Sunday’s homily. The Gospel reading at the Mass that Sunday tells us of Jesus proclaiming to his apostles, “I want to bring fire on the earth.” I must tell you that I even went to You Tube to see the video of that Mass in other Catholic Churches to see how other priests spoke about Jesus’ words. So, today, I plan to take some time to share with you my thoughts on that reading.

When Jesus speaks of fire he is referring to the Holy Spirit. Jesus envisions the Holy Spirit bringing new life to the world and to the Catholic Church throughout the centuries. Jesus always knew that some things that he was teaching would be very divisive among the people who listened to him. We know even now that the words of the Lord can divide families, divide communities, even divide Catholics.

So, even now, we should not be surprised that the Gospel of the Lord can be rather divisive. Jesus’ sense of justice brought him into conflict with those who exploit the weak and poor. His integrity brought him into conflict with the dishonest. His tolerance for all brought him into conflict with the narrow minded and the bigoted.

Today our Church faces many divisions. There are many other religions. There are several Christian faiths. We should even be aware that there are divisions among Catholics. Living our faith amidst divisions challenges us to find the real Jesus, for only then do we have the truth so that we can live it. Many of us need help; we need someone that we can trust to help us find the truth, to lead us to the true message of the Lord.

Do you have questions about your faith, about Jesus, about God, about the Catholic Church? I have had many such questions over the years. I want you to know that I have confronted such questions. You know that I have had a good education and continue to study, yet there are still challenging questions. However, I have been blessed by wise and truly learned friends, who have been ready to guide me. Sadly, too many of them have gone back to the Lord. However, I do know that they continue to help me in really powerful ways. So, questions about your faith are okay; they are not some sort of sin.

Do not be afraid of doubts. I know that even very holy saints have written about their personal difficulty with doubts. They have found refuge in prayer, in reaching out to God for direction. For many of them, this became a way to draw even closer in relationship with God. In doubt, find help and turn to God in prayer.

In our time, we are bombarded with so much information. There is so much to try and understand. Our search for the truth is not easy, and it can cause confusion and even takes from God’s truth. I am old enough to remember when some would say, “if this is in the newspaper, it must be true.” Or is it? Then comes TV: “if something is on television it must be true.” Then along comes social media and now AI. How well do we deal with all this? How do we keep ourselves from being misdirected?

So, divisions! I hope that you can find someone you can trust. Someone to talk with, confide in – someone who will always lead you to the truth, someone who will gently help you stay close to the Lord and the Lord’s message and help you find what is the truth.