Agents of Reconciliation

 

 
Grace to you!
 
One of the results of the revelation of God through us who are born in Christ is that we become agents of divine reconciliation. This is spurred by the love of Christ. As Saint Paul says, "the love of Christ urges us on" (2 Cor 5:14).
 
For that love, we open our hearts to love the unlovable, and our hands with the palms of peace. 
 
Reconciliation is both horizontal and vertical. It flows from Christ to us and from us to others, building a web of sons and daughters who are born of God in Christ. 
 
If, as a believer, you look around your house, your street, your neighborhood and the wider society, and you don't feel a burden to be an agent of peace and reconciliation in your own little way, you may not have realized this crucial aspect of your call as a believer. 
 
It is not because of social justice that we want a just world, but because of a just and loving God that we are obligated to fight for social justice. Our active involvement in social justice is equally inspired by our true love for one another—we’re brothers and sisters.
 
For instance, as a Catholic coming out of the confessional, that sacrament of reconciliation, aren't you inspired to be an instrument of reconciliation yourself? If we hear those words from the Lord, “I forgive you,” aren’t we to speak the same words to others who offended us?
 
A man who avoided going to Confession shared how he discovered inner peace. “At the confessional,” he said, “I was reminded through the clear voice of conscience that I too should bring others to my reconciled heart.” For years, he avoided Confession because he was not ready to forgive some people who terribly hurt him. This deprived him of inner peace. After many years of painful struggles with the inner voice, he finally decided to get back to true reconciliation sacrament. He made the best confession of his life and having being fully reconciled, he became an activist of true reconciliation for others. “The peace I feel within is unrivaled,” he said.
 
Once healed, aren't we to facilitate the healing of our brothers and sisters who are living under the shackles of division, resentment, hate, unforgiveness and social injustice? Aren’t we called to be agents of divine reconciliation, to make the world a garden of reconciled and forgiving persons? More blessed is the heart that forgives than the heart that is pregnant with bitter resentment.
 
Shout it out, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has passed away, behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation" (2 Cor 17-19). 
 
If you are hurting, prayers offered for healing. If you are causing others pain, prayers for repentance. For both, prayers for a loving and reconciling heart. Amen
 
God love you. God bless you. 
 
Fr. Maurice Emelu
 
[Saturday Week 10 A:  2 Cor 5:14-21; Mtt 5:33-37]
 

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