Today’s first
reading comes from Paul’s letter to the Colossians, a document that was
probably written while Paul was enduring his first period of imprisonment in
Rome. Paul tells us that Christ came to
bring reconciliation to all things, to make peace by the blood of his
cross. Yet, we look out at a world that
exists almost 2,000 years after Paul wrote this letter to the Colossians with
there being so much war, violence, and discord in our own modern American
society and in so many other countries throughout the world. If we are the hands and the eyes and the feet
of Christ here on earth, how can we bring about peace in the midst of all this
brokenness? How can we reconcile all
things through the blood of Christ that was shed for our salvation?
Throughout the year of the Eucharist in
our diocese, we have been talking about what the real presence of Christ in the
Eucharist means to us as Catholic, about what we need to do to truly live out
the spirit of the Eucharist. I look out
at our own community in Yazoo City to see so many lives destroyed by addictions
to alcohol, drugs, and violence. I see
many of us working toward our own individual goals and not striving toward
peace and harmony in our own neighborhoods. And we see what our society’s
addiction to drugs is doing to our neighbors in Mexico, how the drug cartels
are overtaking that country and terrorizing its citizens.
Lord, as St. Francis of Assisi asks of
you, make us instruments of your peace.
Let us sow the seeds of your Gospel here on earth as we work as your
servants to proclaim your kingdom in the here and now. May our lives truly reflect the true presence
of your Son that we receive in the Eucharist.
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