Dim lights

From today's Gospel reading, our parish priest pointed out in his homily that some people pretend that Christ did not have hard words. Today's Gospel reading is about some of those hard words. From Luke 12:49-53, the Lord said these words:

‘I have come to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were blazing already! There is a baptism I must still receive, and how great is my distress till it is over! ‘Do you suppose that I am here to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on a household of five will be divided: three against two and two against three; the father divided against the son, son against father, mother against daughter, daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law, daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’

Fr. John points out, however, that while Christ is not here solely to cause grief and division, he does bring a challenge which will always be opposed by many who are firmly embracing this world. Our parish priest also points out if we were to discard this challenge and Christ's hard teachings, then we can truly say that the salt has lost its taste and the light has gone dim.

The image of dimmed lights stands out: when the light has gone dim, it becomes harder to see the truth. In the dim light, it is difficult to distinguish shapes and objects apart. Such dim lights are indeed useless, and such conditions are probably ideal for the Enemy to deceive many so that they stumble and fall.