If there is to be reconciliation, first there must be truth.

In spite of the fact that the law of revenge solves no social problems, men continue to follow its disastrous leading. History is cluttered with the wreckage of nations and individuals that pursued this self-defeating path." -- Martin Luther King, Jr: (1929 – 1968: was an American Baptist minister and activist who became the most visible spokesperson and leader in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968

Gospel Text: (MT 18:15-20)

Jesus said to his disciples:
"If your brother sins against you,
go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.
If he listens to you, you have won over your brother.
If he does not listen,
take one or two others along with you,
so that  every fact may be established
on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
If he refuses to listen to them, tell the Church.
If he refuses to listen even to the Church,
then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector.
Amen, I say to you,
whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven,
and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Again, amen, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth
about anything for which they are to pray,
it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father.
For where two or three are gathered together in my name,
there am I in the midst of them."

Reflect, today, upon who it is that you may need to reconcile with.  Perhaps you have not yet even had that initial personal conversation required as a first step.  Perhaps you’re afraid to initiate it or perhaps you’ve already written them off.  Pray for grace, mercy, love and humility so that you can reach out to those who hurt you in the way Jesus wants.