Christ the Reconciler, who brought together Samaritans and Israelites, Roman officials and zealots, tax collectors and fishermen, sinners and saints, help us to join in your work of reconciling all peoples – first to their loving and merciful Creator and then to one another. Help us to bring together people of all faiths. Help us to bring together political conservatives and political liberals, Protestants and Catholics, the Christian Right and the Christian Left, moguls and migrants, isolationists and immigrants, victims and perpetrators, women and men, the popular and the estranged, the white and the black, the rich and the poor, the sinners and the saints.
Christ the Reconciler, who bathed in the Jordan River and retreated to the desert, who was born among farm animals and who spoke lovingly about the providential growth of fragile seeds, help us to reconcile with the Father’s creation. Help us to turn back from the abuse and neglect that we have inflicted upon our skies and rivers, our forests, grasslands and deserts, our plants, rocks and animals. Help us to embrace and restore creation as you did.
Christ the Reconciler, reconcile us with our God, our sisters and brothers, and with our universe. Bring us to a New Heaven and a New Earth, where every tear will be wiped away.
Amen
~ Mark Thibodeaux, SJ