“Go first to be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.”
It is hard to live out a life of charity towards others and thus it is so easy to fall into the trap of being uncharitable against them.
It is especially easy for us to return evil with evil rather then counteracting it with good.
Our Epistle instructs us that with God on our side we can return evil with good.
Our Epistle goes on to say that we must be “lovers of the brotherhood.”
This is to say that we must be lovers and defenders of the community.
That we must always desire to protect it from all which might do it harm.
Our collect petitions that God may: “pour into our hearts such love towards thee” that we may “obtain thy promises, which exceed all that we can desire.”
This prayer sums up what is needed within this world.
Our sight needs to be directed towards God the Father and from this love which is discovered here we will have something to share with our neighbor.
On this Father’s Day it is my hope that all Christian fathers may come to emulate the love that is discovered through the Fatherhood of God.
God the Father is not self serving and neither should a Christian father.
Saint Joseph shows the value of the father in his protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary and through his upbringing of Christ.
The father must take it upon himself with the assistance of his wife to shepherd the family into the Heavenly Kingdom.
If we are to strive towards the Heavenly Kingdom we must let go and repent of the many ways in which we have brought harm upon the community.
Gossip is such an easy exercise to partake of, but it can rip the community apart through the spreading of exaggerations and lies.
The Gospels states that a Kingdom which is divided among itself will not stand.
And so today’s Gospel speaks about the vengeance that is anger which rips the community apart and causes it to falter.
Anger causes us to fail to see the humanity of another and to lash out at them through our thoughts or actions.
We are called not to anger, but are called to be reconciled with those who have trespassed against us.
Therefore, may we pray for the virtue to forgive those who have trespassed against us.
May we foster the virtue of charity in our life that we may not participate in acts which might break down the community of faith.
