“There is a new creation. Everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!...God has reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. In Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. We are ambassadors for Christ.” 2 Co 5

Dear parishioners,

When Paul writes that God has given “us” the ministry of reconciliation, that he has entrusted the ministry of reconciliation to “us”, and that “we” are ambassadors for Christ, he is speaking about himself and the other apostles. But I think that what Paul says here about the apostles can be extended to the entire Church. We are all a new creation, and called to contribute to a new creation, a new world order, the Kingdom of God. A huge part of that new world order is reconciliation. Permanent, ongoing reconciliation. Since offense is a permanent feature of our world, so must reconciliation be. God has given us all the ministry of reconciliation. He has entrusted to us all the message of reconciliation. We are all ambassadors for Christ, and that has to mean, among many other things, being permanent agents of reconciliation.

This message is very timely. We live in an age of multiple tensions. As societies, we are becoming increasingly polarized politically, morally. Couples are in tension. Nations are at war. The pandemic has created a divide between those who are comfortable with protective measures like vaccines and masks and social distancing and those who are not. The areas of our lives and of our world in need of reconciliation are legion. Take your pick.

Take your pick, but be sure to choose something. By the grace of God may we all truly be agents of reconciliation, in our families, in our communities, in our Church, in our world. There is always a place and a time where I personally can contribute to reconciliation. By the grace of God may we always be on the look-out for these places and times, these opportunities, and seize them when they pass. May we truly be ambassadors for Christ, engaging in his work of reconciling the world with God, of reconciling people with one another.  The reality is that in life, in all that we do, we are almost always contributing to either division or reconciliation. Few words and gestures are indifferent in this regard. By the grace of God, may we Christians be consistently on the side of reconciliation.

In closing, I refer you to the bulletin, the parish website, and our Instagram and Facebook pages for the schedule of pre-Easter confession times, and for the schedule of Holy Triduum celebrations.

Keep safe, God bless,
Fr. Guy