Peace Or a Sword? Is the Whole Truth Always Out of Season? by Dr. Jeff Mirus

By Dr. Jeff Mirus, Catholic Culture, Sept. 13, 2022

Yesterday’s news fairly shouts at us to consider once again one of Our Lord’s most powerful and most scandalous statements:

Every one who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven. Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. [Mt 10:32-34]

There is also a related incident in which Our Lord sent out his disciples to preach the Gospel with this admonition: “And if any place will not receive you and they refuse to hear you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet for a testimony against them” (Mk 6:11; cf. Mt 10:14; Lk 9:5 and 10:11; Acts 13:51).

And yet it is far more common today to hear Christians, including popes, emphasizing their effort to promote peace without ever expressing a hard saying or even a call to “Repent, and believe the Gospel.” This approach was almost overwhelmingly apparent in yesterday’s news: …

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