The Good Fruits of Division

Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division; for henceforth in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against her mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
Luke 12:51-53 RSVCE

Pope Leo XIV commented on this Scripture passage. He wrote,

Jesus uses strong images and great frankness to teach his disciples that his mission, and even that of his followers, is not a “bed of roses”, but a “sign of contradiction” (cf. Lk 2:34). …

… Being or doing good does not always receive a positive response. … Acting in truth has its cost, because there are those in the world who choose lies.
Pope Leo XIV, Angelus, Piazza della Libertà (Castel Gandolfo), Sunday, 17 August 2025

The evangelist must reckon with the reality of evil in the world. The Gospel message—and Gospel living—will always encounter resistance. The goal of the Gospel is unity in God and truth. But the effect of the Gospel is twofold: it strengthens some in Christ, while exposing in others their resistance and rejection of him.

If that were the whole story, evangelization would be straightforward: we preach and pray, some accept and are saved, others reject and face judgment.

But that is not the whole story.

Consider Jesus himself. He preached; some accepted, others rejected. Yet it did not end there. Those who rejected him persecuted him, and he embraced that persecution in obedience to the Father. He offered his Body as a living sacrifice, as worship, on behalf of his persecutors and for the whole world. He prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

So it must be for the evangelist. In obedience to God and in imitation of Christ, we are called to accept persecution—and indeed all suffering—as an offering. We are to present our very lives as living sacrifices of spiritual worship.

Pope Leo XIV continued:

Jesus … invites us with his help … to continue to act for our good and the good of all, even those who make us suffer. He invites us not to respond to insolence with vengeance, but to remain faithful to the truth in love. The martyrs witnessed to this by shedding their blood for their faith. We, too, can imitate their example even in different circumstances and ways.
Pope Leo XIV, Angelus, Piazza della Libertà (Castel Gandolfo), Sunday, 17 August 2025

Like the martyrs, we can be “seed of the Church,” instruments of salvation for those who do not know God—even those who have rejected him. We can hope for the salvation of anyone. By prayer and the willing acceptance of suffering after the pattern of Christ, we can obtain from God the grace and mercy needed for the conversion of even great sinners.

Thus, in the midst of division caused by the Gospel—even division in our own families and communities—let us enter more deeply into Christ. In doing so, the Gospel will not only divide, it will also conform us more closely to Jesus. And our spiritual sacrifice, offered in him and by his power, will bear fruit in the salvation of many of those we love, even from those who have so far resisted and rejected him.