Jesus opened his mouth and taught them saying: "You have heard that it was said to the men of old, 'You shall not kill; and whoever kills shall be liable to judgement.' But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council, and whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be liable to the hell of fire. 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 and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Make friends quickly with your accuser, while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over t the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison; truly, I say to you, you will never get out till you have paid the last penny."
Passing the Peace
There is nothing like the reconciliation of two friends – even more two enemies. Can there be any doubt that God wants us to live in harmony with each other – personally all the way to internationally?
The passing of the Peace in the Eucharist is much more than a warm greeting to friends and visitors in church. We are passing the Peace of our Lord, Jesus Christ to those known and unknown to us. This is all the more important when we are passing the Peace to someone with whom we are not a peace. That happens more often than we sometimes think.
One Sunday at the time for passing the Peace, I spontaneously added an explanation on what it means to pass the Peace of our Lord to each other. Then I encouraged people to truly pass the Peace. Later I learned that two people who had been at odds with each other for many months did indeed truly pass the Peace to each other. Then they knelt together for the Great Thanksgiving and took Holy Communion together. What joy!
Blessings and Peace,
Fr. Lee+
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