26 Mar Tuesday

“We are ambassadors” is a verb in Greek, and has more a sense of a trained elder sent to negotiate peace, or in a crude English it might be read as “we are ambassadorizing for Christ.” For the disciple today and the parish today, this means that the Church can never be merely inward gazing and working, but must be present in the world and to the world. It also means that peace is not negotiated through finger pointing judgment, but rather through the skill of listening and coming to a new truth about all the parties involved that is a new creation. The Father desires that the two sons enter into a new relationship with one another; the father truly negotiates with the older brother.

The Church, especially religious orders, have made very little investments in developing the skill of its members in this practice, so much needed in the modern world of increasing tribalization and polarization.