Scripture Reflection, January 20: Servants of Reconciliation

Scripture Readings:
Isaiah 49: 3, 5-6
Psalm 40
I Corinthians 1: 1-3
John 1: 29-34

The work of reconciliation is very challenging. Sometimes it is downright dangerous. The effort to bring together people who are divided, to heal deep wounds, takes time and dogged commitment.

In the gospel reading for this Sunday, we listen as Jesus is identified immediately at the beginning of his ministry. John the Baptist hails him as “the Lamb of God,” the one who has come to take away the sin of the world. We also reflect on Jesus as the one who fulfills the beautiful prophecy of Isaiah about the servant of God: “The Lord said to me: you are my servant.” This servant is sent by God to be a light to the nations so that God’s salvation may reach to the ends of the earth. As the Lamb of God -- the servant of God sent to be a light to the nations -- Jesus is the one whose mission is to  reconcile a divided and wounded humanity, In Christ God’s saving love and power are at work to overcome the alienation of human beings from God and from each other.

This saving work of Jesus, however, inevitably involves suffering. The servant spoken about by Isaiah is the suffering servant, the one who will be rejected and scorned but who will leave an enduring legacy. Jesus is the Lamb of God who will be rejected and slain. Even in and through that suffering, however, he will effect reconciliation and forgiveness. He is the one who will give of himself completely in order to fulfill the mission given to him by the Father, a mission of healing and reconciling a wounded world.

In our lives, too, the work of healing and reconciliation does not always go smoothly. It sometimes involves conflict and suffering. That is often the case in marriage and family life. Healing relationships that have become fractured is often a rough road, a back-and-forth process that takes time and a great deal of effort. Restoring trust where there has been a betrayal of trust requires real perseverance. As people of faith in Jesus Christ, however, we believe that this work is well worth the effort. We also believe that this is a work that is not achieved purely by our own power. It is made possible by the grace of God that moves us from within to heal wounds and reconcile relationships. And we believe that Christ, the Lamb of God, is very much present and at work throughout the process.

In our nation this weekend, we remember the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He recognized the need to reconcile a divided people, a nation torn apart and scarred by the oppression of minorities and the mutual distrust and hatred which such oppression generates. As he proclaimed on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, he was guided by a dream about a time when people of all races and walks of life would be one, would live together in understanding and cooperation. He spoke of all life as interrelated; all people are “tied in a single garment of destiny.” Because of his commitment to that dream, Dr. King suffered greatly and was eventually murdered. Yet he has left behind an enduring legacy for all of us.

We witness daily the pain and scars caused by division in our world. The ongoing conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Middle East bring that home to us each day. In our own very diverse United States society, we struggle mightily to understand and respect one another. Our prejudices still haunt us, causing us to think and act in ways that sometimes we do not even understand. There are moments in own our homes when we find it difficult to come together. It is sometimes easier to let each person go his or her separate way, to live together as isolated individuals under the same roof, than to make the effort to share our lives and concerns, to share meals and stories that bind us together.

Christ calls us to work for reconciliation in our world, our nation, our Church, and our own homes. In order to respond to this call we need his grace. We need Christ’s grace to soften our hard hearts, to dissolve our prejudices, to deepen our understanding of one another. And so we come to the Eucharist, to the Lamb of God whose death and resurrection bring us together around the altar. As one people, we eat of the one bread and drink of the one cup. In so doing, we are called to become one Body of Christ and to be servants of reconciliation and unity in our world.

Fr. Robin Ryan, cp