Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. (Mt 5:20-26)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031425.cfm
I remember a priest friend who told the story of celebrating Mass and having to read this gospel. He said he asked the people to pray while he went to the parish office and called his brother with whom he hadn’t spoken for several years. Afterwards, he returned to the church and continued the liturgy. Maybe that’s precisely what the Lord had in mind for all of us. We joyfully pray for Pope Francis.
These reflections are a result of more than 40 years of ministry as a Roman Catholic priest. Most of these years I spent in the Diocese of Charlotte which covers Western North Carolina. Now I am retired, and live in Medellín, Colombia where I continue to serve as a priest in the Archdiocese of Medellín.
Friday I, Lent
