Third Thursday of Lent: A house divided?

Today’s Gospel makes clear that disunity is one of the worst afflictions for any group: “Every kingdom divided against itself is heading for ruin, and a household divided against itself collapses (Luke 11:18).”

With only a little reflection this is quite obvious to us all, and yet often we can seem blasé about the degree of division within the Church, the body of Christ, when it ought to be a source of great scandal to us.

Yet, we might well ask, how can we avoid the division, when there are so many competing voices?

Well, the key is given to us in today’s first reading: “These were my orders: Listen to my voice, then I will be your God and you shall be my people. Follow right to the end the way that I mark out for you, and you will prosper (Jeremiah 7:23-24).”

The only voice that really counts is that of God, and God’s voice is the only one that can truly unite us. We need to avoid the temptation to decide how we think the Church should be and then persuade everyone else to follow our vision. When we find God’s voice difficult to follow, when we find his teaching hard, that is when we really need to commit to following him, because following him only when he’s walking the same way as us, isn’t really following him at all.