Turning Toward One Another

Rev. Dr. Luciano Márquez Jr.,

Associate Regional Pastor for Latino Ministries

Thanks to the proliferation of online platforms, I can chat with a group of my former high school classmates from 60 years ago on a social network. We have reconnected, despite the distance, turning back to one another.

Sure, those are my lifelong friends, but we live in a world full of people. While there is still room on the planet for more, sometimes it seems there are already too many of us. However, there are moments when we feel so alone that it seems no one sees us, no one even notices our existence, and they ignore us as if we weren't there. Indeed, this commonly happens in emergencies when we need immediate attention. 

God created us with a sense of community that compels us to turn toward one another, but today there is a strong push toward extreme independence, making it difficult to look at one another with patience and understanding. This is why our emotions and reasoning often lack the will to forgive and reconcile, because individual preferences and predilections divide and isolate us.

Jesus told the parable of the ‘two debtors’ to teach us that forgiveness and reconciliation are God's purpose for our lives and the rule by which He deals with us. In this way, He warns us to learn to get along with one another in genuine mutual consideration. Paul later affirms that this task of reconciliation is the complete work of Jesus Christ, and that it is the ministry of the new life He entrusts to us in His Word.

A principle like this could be easy to apply in our relationships with fellow church members, our family, and people of our same background. But we must consider what will happen when we have to turn to others with whom we don't share much in common. Here, we face a real challenge in our communities to care for each other as Jesus did.

In this Lenten season, today's journey invites us to consider this key question: Who is God calling us to see or love differently? 

Prayer:

Reconciling God, you have turned toward us in mercy through Jesus Christ. 

Open our eyes to see those we overlook.

Soften our hearts to forgive as we have been forgiven.

Teach us to turn toward one another with patience, compassion, and love. 

Amen.