It has been a busy and extraordinary week. As we wait for the final outcome of our presidential election we are reminded of the great gift of freedom of will endowed in us by our creator from the moment of our conception. We are given the gift to choose good and avoid evil, the gift to speak truth and blessing and avoid slander and defamation and the gift to seek peace and justice and turn away from cruelty and violence. The reality of freedom is we do not need to be of one mind as long as we have the common goal. We know, as Christians, we have one destination, one common goal, life with Jesus Christ and eternal life in the great company of saints. And like so many of the great saints in our Church’s tradition and history, there are a variety of ways to reach this goal…but each way is founded in the recognition of using the gifts and blessings God gives to us and use them to bring peace and justice into our world.
The Sacramental life of our faith reminds us of how we grow in grace and unity as a community. Each Sacrament calls us to a greater unity and into a greater community. As Catholics we are called to share these gifts with the world. At the center of our sacramental life is the Eucharist and Reconciliation, moments of grace and blessings.
We are invited into thanksgiving and the sharing of blessings daily in our life. The hope we see around us isn’t limited by a day in November of a vote total but rather in the knowledge and love of God we share with one another. We know in this time of lock-downs and social distancing building community is often difficult and even frowned upon but the sharing of the human need of community will not be destroyed. In our Eucharistic life we are challenged to look for the better and the very best in each other as we look for this within our own hearts. We are challenged to examine our words and actions and ask the hard questions of: Have we sought the best in others? Have we gave the best of ourselves to the other? As St. John reminds us in his first letter, “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.” (1 Jn 4:20) This is where the common goal and the common destination comes into greater focus.
Jesus reminds us again and again how we must learn to forgive from the very first actions and words in his ministry to the words of forgiveness from the cross of our salvation: the cross of reconciliation and forgiveness.
We are called as members of the Body of Christ, to a continued conversion of life in moving toward greater unity with God and His holy Church. In this we know we are surrounded by saints and sinners knowing we are both saint and sinner in our own life. It is the movement of a heart seeking contrition which allows us to grow in love and desire. We pray this daily, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” It is the command Jesus offers us, “So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. (Mt 5:23-24)
After this election where feelings have run high and words have often been spoken not in charity, let us once again turn towards Jesus and seek the unity and hope of a people whose destination isn’t the values and trappings of the world but the heavenly Kingdom of God’s house.
God Bless
Fr. Mark
