Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

      Truth and goodness, evil and falsehood cannot meet.  There is no, nor can there be, compromise between them.  We hear in the Gospel today startling words from our Lord.  He, Who has come to bring healing, and put an end to the estrangement between God and  mankind speaks about division  and discord even in families.  Does the Lord want this?  Of course not. But the reality is that if we long for the truth, the truth that sets us free from self- deception and self-centeredness, then we can expect there to be controversy, rejection and division.  Our Lord, therefore, calls us to be steadfast.  There is suffering in living the truth that Christ has revealed to us.  The present faddishness of the world wants to draw us away from the paths of holiness and righteousness.  And of course it is very tempting at times, especially when it involves those who are close to us.

     Nonetheless, we are called to be witnesses of the Gospel.  We recall that the word “witness” in Greek is martyr and though we may not ever shed our blood for the sake of the Gospel we do share in the suffering that comes from being faithful to the Lord.  Let us, therefore, be of good cheer as the martyrs past and present for the Lord has asked us to share and bear the cross with the hope that others will do so as well.

 With Blessings,

 Father Langan