International Catholic Conference of
Guiding
Reconciliation - Matthew 5-20-26
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[Matthew 5-20-26][ Luke
10, 38-42][ Luke
11, 5-13][ Luke
11, 15-26]
[ Luke 11, 27-28][
Luke 17, 11-19][
Luke 11, 42-46][
Luke 11, 47-54]
Matthew 5-20-26
« I tell you, then, that you will be able to enter the Kingdom of heaven only if you are more faithful than the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees in doing what God requires.
« You have heard that people were told in the past, `Do not commit murder; anyone who does will be brought to trial'. But now I tell you: whoever is angry with his brother will be brought to trial, whoever calls his brother `You good for nothing!' will be brought before the Council, and whoever calls his brother a worthtless fool will be in danger of going to the fire of hell. So if you are about to offer your gift to God at the altar and there you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar, go at once and make peace with your brother, and then come back and offer your gift to God.
« If someone brings a lawsuit against you and takes you to court, settle the dispute with him while there is time, before you get to court. Once you are there, he wll hand you over to the juge, who will hand you over to the police, and you will be put in jail. There you will stay, I tell you, until you pay the last penny of your fine.
| Meditation |
by Jean Debruynne |
In this text Matthew states the
urgency of reconciliation and he does it in a very radical fashion. He goes
beyond what seems reasonable. In fact Matthew opens three different doors for
reconciliation.
There is the reconciliation with the Other, the Enemy, the Brother, and this
reconciliation with the other is also the door that leads to the reconciliation
with God. If I reconcile myself with the other, I reconcile myself with God, and
I cannot reconcile myself with God unless I reconcile myself with the other.
This is true to such an extent, that the Church entrusts God's forgiveness to
men.
Reconciliation with oneself is often
the kind of reconciliaton that we forget most frequently, mostly because if one
is not reconciled with oneself, one tends to quarell and be on bad terms with
others. If I dont dare to look at myself, I always blame others; if I don't see
clearly, I don't see myself clearly either, and the temptation is great to
accuse others.
All this passage: « if your right eye causes you to sin, take it out and
throw it away! » is not an ivitation to self-mutilation, but a call for
convertion. A call for a change of point of view as regards to others and
oneself, for a change of the way we see ourselves and the others. We can note,
that in this call for reconciliation Jesus does not only say « if you have
something against your brother go and make peace with him », but he says
« if your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in
front of the altar, go at once and make peace with your brother, and then come
back and offer your gift to God ».
This process of reconciliation that
we are beginning today, is truly a challange to our faith, is an act of faith.
It is something other than a diplomatic negotiation, which doesn't mean that we
should not negotiate. It means that the process of reconciliation that we start,
is a process of conversion, a deep personal conversion, a change of heart, a
change of ways of looking at things.
Not only those at war need reconciliation. All of us have to take part in this movement of reconciliation, we have to begin this process of reconciliation for the sake of those who are at war, so that thay can partake in it. And this we can only do in our soul, by a movement of the heart, from inside, through a conversion in Jesus Christ. This movement towards conversion comes from God, at the iniciative of God, it is not us who have decided but God, his tenderness and we are the receipients of His tenderness. This tenderness of God, that has been damaged in the heart of men, is entrusted to you this evening for healing. This is why we dare to say Our Father.
