Word to the Wise
Thursday, June 14, 2012 - Thursday in the 10th Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Kgs 18:41-46 and Matt 5:20-26]Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother or sister has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. [Matthew]
Imagine, if you will, a large storage building next to the parish church to hold all the unoffered gifts that have not been "redeemed" because the original owner could not be reconciled with someone before making the offering! This is not an absurdity if one takes Jesus literally. Of course, in our day, that extra building might have to be a bank!
Today's passage from the Sermon on the Mount illustrates what Jesus means by fulfilling the law and the prophets. He begins with the behavior of those who claimed to be fulfilling that law: the scribes and Pharisees. The disciples of Jesus are called to a far deeper and more profound integrity. True disciples must realize that external conduct must reflect internal motivations. In today's passage, it is hatred and alienation that is the focus. The conduct that Jesus expects is reconciliation! Sin can be an internal thing as well as an external thing.
When I preach a parish mission, one of the nights is given to a Reconciliation Service. I try to use the word "reconciliation" and not "penance." I lead the congregation in an examination of conscience that emphasizes the relationships in their lives: self, parents, siblings, children, friends, employers, professional persons, and last, but not least, the ONE person they may have sworn they would NEVER forgive. In each section, they are asked to envision these folks and pray for the grace to forgive or to be forgiven. The individual confessions that follow are profound, and occasionally a participant will come to me later and say that they had gone and been reconciled with someone after being alienated for many years!
The standard demanded by Jesus is a high one but not an impossible one. In examining our own consciences, we might ask the question I once saw on a poster: "If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be sufficient evidence to convict you?" AMEN
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