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.

There has been much discussion in the Church about the Sign of Peace during the Mass. When should we do it? Why should we do it? And then there’s the issue of hugging, kissing, handshaking, or waving to one another. What exactly is “the sign of peace?” How do we do it?

In any case, it starts with this passage from the Sermon on the Mount. The principle is solid. By the time Saint Matthew and his people sat down to pen the Gospel, the Church had a lot of experience with conflicts within the community. Saint Paul’s letters attest to that.

Something had to be done. These scandalous conflicts could not be ignored; nor would they  go away. They often appeared in all their ugly humor during the Mass. We can suppose that some people stayed away from the assembly to avoid certain individuals; others attended but sat apart; and, very likely, the Church was visibly divided into feuding parties. If you’ve ever seen or participated in such a spat you know that human nature hasn’t changed in a mere two millennia. It will take longer than that.

Matthew 18:15-17 will explore the problem further, and will recognize the sorry possibility that our best efforts toward reconciliation sometime fail.

These two approaches to healing the rifts within the Church do not exhaust every possibility. Under the impulse of the Holy Spirit every generation in every culture develops its own methods of peacemaking.

But one thing is certain: we cannot abide permanent divisions within the Church. Just before Pentecost we heard Jesus praying for his disciples ut unum sunt (John 17) – that all may be one. His prayer is irresistible. If we are obedient and patient and get out of the way -- we will see it fulfilled.