Reconcile Ourselves

Jesus said to his disciples:
“I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that
of the scribes and Pharisees,
you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven.

“You have heard that it was said to your ancestors,
You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.
But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother
will be liable to judgment,
and whoever says to his brother,
Raqa, will be answerable to the Sanhedrin,
and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna.
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.
Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court with him.
Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge,
and the judge will hand you over to the guard,
and you will be thrown into prison.
Amen, I say to you,
you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.”
Matthew 5:20-26

Prayer

Dearest Father your Son gives us an example. When we go up to receive him at communion we should have nothing on our minds. If we think about things that have caused hurt to another or some other problem then we should go and reconcile it first. In a sense he is telling us to go to the altar without blemish upon our minds and hearts. When we go up and offer ourselves in communion we are uniting ourselves to our Lord. He makes a good point in leaving our gift and taking care of what causes us separation from him. There is true freedom when our minds, hearts and souls are clear from debris, we are released from our the prison of our own making. May we free our minds, hearts and souls from any problems that cause us separation from our Lord. May we reconcile our lives with those around us and may we seek confession to aid our cleanliness. Amen