Reconciliation

I was delighted to see that the today's edition of the Wall Street Journal prominently above the fold featured a photograph of Pope Francis and Patriarch Kiril.  Not just because it showed the editors of the Journal recognized the importance of the meeting but because of the smiles of the men pictured.  Here, the leaders of two churches sundered apart almost 1,000 years ago, were sitting down and talking.  While the Western and Eastern churches are not about to set aside all of their ecclesiastical and theological differences, the simple fact that Francis and Kiril is huge, not just as a matter of church history but because of the message it sends to hundreds of millions of their followers and, potentially, to more than 1.3 billion Christians worldwide: our arguments, our pride, our principled differences pale when measured against God's call for healing and reconciliation.

This Lent, let us be inspired by these two priests to seek reconciliation in our lives.  Think of that person with whom you are at odds, that individual who annoys, that figure you just know to be wrong, and work to overcoming these barriers to renewing and reconciling that relationship.  Easy?  No.  Wished for deeply by God? You bet.

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