On the first weekend in the 2020 Season of Creation, the Gospel we hear, break open and reflect on is taken from Matthew 18:15 – 20. This passage was initially intended to give the disciples in the early church some guidance about how to deal with conflict and broken relationships yet it also invites us to reflect on how to ensure true and lasting relationships.
Careful listening is understood as the first step in each relationship and towards any reconciliation. If there’s been a break in trust or a hurt to be healed then hearts need to be opened in unconditional love and in honest gentle conversation. Our desire for restoration must include hope for wholeness and mending the harm, otherwise wounds will remain. Deep reconciliation is made easier by our knowledge that God is with us when we come together in God’s name and sustains us even when there seems little or no hope.
Let’s remember that at this time we are also called to make reconciliation with Earth where often that relationship has been broken by our waste, inaction or greed. This week, we make a special effort to listen deeply so as to hear the cry of the Earth and the cry of our sisters and brothers.
