Warfare?

"I have come to bring not peace but the sword." (Mt 10: 34).  The sword refers to the necessary cutting of oneself from all that hinders a binding and total commitment of love to God.  Sometimes this entails pain, divisions within families, and the taking up of the cross behind Jesus.  We sometimes forget the challenge it is to be a disciple of Jesus; it's not lemonade and roses. This is a lifetime process, warfare,  even the Apostles and all saintly followers had to undergo suffering, separation, disappointment and the loss of what we hold dear.. In the end, however, the prize of finding life in Jesus is worth it.  There is nothing else that compares with it. This Gospel passage (Mt 10: 34-11:1) bears much need for reflection and incorporation into our spiritual life.  St. Marcellin and the Marist Martyrs of the 20th and 21st centuries bear witness to this...As Marists, as Christians, can we expect anything less?
Bro. Rene