Accepting the Sword of Christ!

Monday, July 13, 2026

Is 1: 10-17; Mt 10: 34-11:1

Today’s Gospel highlights what it means to accept the sword of Christ. 

It is surprising to see that Jesus, the Prince of Peace, is saying, ‘I have come to bring not peace but the sword.’ How can we understand Jesus’ statement?

The statement appears to contradict the peace-loving and compassionate Jesus that we know from his mission. Hence, we must know that Jesus is not advocating violence or division for his own sake. Instead, the ‘sword’ that Jesus speaks of is the painful discord that often arises when we choose to remain faithful to the Lord.

As such, accepting the ‘sword’ of Christ indicates that we examine our lives in two ways. 

Family Relationship: The ‘sword’ of Christ invites us to examine our relationship within the family. Though family is the precious gift of God and deserves our love and honor, when it comes to the question of primacy, the love of Christ should take precedence precisely because when Christ occupies the first place, every other relationship finds its proper order. In other words, when we love Christ, we love our family members better. It implies that when our family members find it hard to understand our commitment to the Gospel or when we ourselves are tempted to compromise Christian values, we must have the courage to put Christ above everything. For Christians, Christ cannot become secondary. 

Social Relationships: The same sword of Christ invites us to examine our social relationships too. Accepting the sword of Christ would then mean recognizing others as the very extension of Christ himself. As a result, accepting or receiving others is like accepting or receiving Christ himself. Here, we must note that Jesus is not talking about accepting or receiving the wealthy, powerful, or influential. Instead, Christ talks of the least of society. Thus, the poor, vulnerable, and abandoned become for us the persons in whom we encounter Christ himself. We are called to understand that every act of kindness done in the name of Christ becomes the very act of love towards Christ himself. 

Let us pray that accepting the sword of Christ will enable us to form the right relationships.

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar