Today’s
Gospel is not my favorite – because it is especially tough. Jesus speaks to all of us about the
importance of reconciliation with one another.
Notice there is not a disclaimer about how we should seek to reconcile
only if we intentionally hurt someone, or if we may have done something we
weren’t supposed to do. Jesus makes it
clear that it is OUR responsibility to seek reconciliation “when we realize
that someone has something against us.”
Say
what? This is opposite from how our
world responds to injustice. Our culture
today would argue that this is not our problem.
Just leave it alone and go on with your life, or post something on
social media and publicly ridicule this offender. This is how the world often responds.
Musician
and Monk John Michael Talbot has an excellent reflection on this Gospel where he
recalls that approaching the altar of the lord, and realizing that we have
something against our brother or sister; well that’s easy – we can go to
confession. But if we realize that
someone has something against us, we need to go talk to that person first. This is the challenging part.
The
prayer of St. Francis seems especially appropriate for these occasions in our
life. Why should we bother ourselves with reconciling with those who might be
difficult? Because we want to be instruments
of peace. Because where there is hatred,
we should be sowing love, and where there is injury, we should be seeking
pardons. It doesn’t matter who is
injured. It doesn’t matter who feels the
hatred. We are called to be instruments
of peace in every situation!
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