Homily for 16 Aug 2017

16 Aug 2017

“God is entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.”  So the spirit of forgiveness, humility, and peace should be part of our lives.  And it’s such an important part of our Catholic lives that it’s even part of the Mass.  We have the “Sign of Peace.”

“Let us offer one another the sign of peace,” we hear.  And it isn’t just a moment to exchange pleasantries; it’s a moment to do a self-check and to ask, “Can I offer everyone here—and in the Church everywhere—the sincere gift of peace?”  “Do I have that spirit of reconciliation in my heart?”

And that isn’t always an easy spirit to maintain, especially if someone has “trespassed against us.”  But that’s the spirit the Lord gives us, the spirit of a forgiving heart, the spirit of giving a fellow Christian the opportunity to make peace.

Of course, as we hear in the gospel, sometimes a fellow Christian has no interest in being reconciliation.  And, in that case, we don’t write them off; but we do keep them at arm’s length until they express the desire to be reconciled. 

God is entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.  The most we can do is to offer that reconciliation and peace to others.  What they do with it is their business.  But let’s be sure to do the “most we can do,” and make our offer of peace truly heartfelt.