Daily Reflections ...

The early Christians believed that the world would soon come to an end after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension. The Gospel today reflects this, but also teaches us about the importance of forgiveness.

Jesus often spoke of how generations before longed to see what his disciples see, but didn’t. The Jews had prophesied a messiah for centuries, but now that he had come, they took it for granted and finally, rejected him. This is something we can all do; put off our conversion and pursuit of holiness for “the right time.”

Now is the right time.

In many ways, Jesus is encouraging us to have an attitude of readiness for his coming, for judgment and for life eternal. Specifically, he is encouraging us to settle our disputes, forgive those who have become our “opponents” and reconcile and resolve the tensions that we cannot bring with us into the kingdom of God. Whether it’s the end of the world, or merely the end of our world, life is short, and we do not know the hour when the Lord is coming. We must forgive and move into peace with those who hurt us.

Today, I ask you to consider a person with whom you have tensions or someone you struggle to forgive. Simply ask God to give you the grace to be able to settle those disputes and to be healed. Pray for the interior freedom to be able to hope, that you can spend eternity, in the kingdom of God, with all those who were at one time your opponent.

by David Kruse