June 10, 2010
Thursday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Matthew 5:23-24
Piety
Jesus, help us to rise above our petty disputes and rivalries so that we can focus our relationships on love, not on power.
Study
Who is right?
Whenever a dispute comes up, we try to determine who is right so that the person with the best case prevails. This legalistic attitude pervades almost everything we do. If the laws are not trying to sort out the winner, then the other predominant way that people try to determine this is through strength – “might makes right” or “survival of the fittest.” If lawyers and arms can not determine a winner, we put things up for a popular vote and the majority wins (right or not). One final way society sorts our winners and losers is by who has the most (money, toys, cars, houses, etc.).
Parents and teachers try to settle arguments between children and students on a playground. Debate teams put for rhetorical arguments for one position or another. Teams fight on the field for the right to say they are the best. Whichever team comes out ahead in the score at the end of the game is declared the winner. Judges try to sort out criminal and civil disputes. Voters try to decide which candidate is best for the future of their town, state or country. Majority wins.
Over the last few weeks, we have read and heard about disputes between Jesus and the church leaders. The leaders have repeatedly tried to trap Jesus with their complex questions about Mosaic law in this world and the next. Rather than match wits with them on a finite interpretation of such laws, Jesus rises above the petty arguments to prevail.
Today, Jesus writes another new chapter in conflict resolution. Never once does Jesus tell his audience to consider who is right in the despite between brothers or between opponents before a judge. Instead, Jesus tells us not to turn to God until we return to our neighbor and make things right by repairing our relationships. What is important is dealing with those around us in a spirit of love and mercy, not in a spirit of right or might.
Action
Assess the relationships in your life. Which ones are solid? Which ones are shaky? Which ones do you need to apply the principal from today’s Good News? Once you know, apply the words of Jesus to right your relationships. “Go first and be reconciled.”
