Reconcilitation

The Task of Reconciliation...

What is our task in this world as children of God and brothers and sisters of Jesus?  Our task is reconciliation.  Wherever we go we see divisions among people - in families, communities, cities, countries, and continents.  All these divisions are tragic reflections of our separation from God.  The truth that all people belong together as members of one family under God is seldom visible.  Our sacred task is to reveal that truth in the reality of everyday life.  

Why is that our task?  Because God sent Christ to reconcile us with God and to give us the task of reconciling people with one another.   As people reconcile with God through Christ we have been given the ministry of reconciliation" (see: 2 Corinthians 5:18).  So whatever we do the main question is, Does it lead to reconciliation among people?

Claiming our Reconciliation...

How do we work for reconciliation?  First and foremost by claiming for ourselves that God through Christ has reconciled us to God.  It is not enough to believe this with our heads.  We have to let the truth of this reconciliation permeate every part of our beings.  As long as we are not fully and thoroughly convinced that we have been reconciled with God, that we are forgiven, that we have received new hearts,  new spirits, new eyes to see, and new ears to hear, we continue to create divisions among people because we expect from them a healing power they do not possess.

Only when we fully trust that we belong to God and can find in our relationship with God all that we need for our minds, hearts, and souls, can we be truly free in this world and be ministers of reconciliation.   This is not easy; we readily fall back into self-doubt and self-rejection.  We need to be constantly reminded through God's Word, the sacraments, and the love of our neighbors that we are indeed reconciled.

                                                                      Henri Nouwen