God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

The Ministry of Reconciliation, as described in the Bible refers to the Divine mandate given to believers to help others be reconciled to God. 

What a wonderful mandate for us to accept and engage in. 

This ministry is rooted in God’s act of reconciling the world to Himself through Jesus Christ and entrusting believers with the message of that reconciliation.

We saw in our First Reading Moses’ intervention of behalf of his people. God’s anger had flared due to the Israelites unfaithfulness. They didn’t just make a mistake or mess up. Rather, they utterly turned their back on God Who had just saved them from the Egyptians. As soon as they got a little bored waiting for Moses, in reality waiting for God, they decided to take their future into their own hands.

The Israelites were telling God that they were in charge, and He was not.

Moses determined to plead before God for them. It wasn’t that he was happy with them, or that he wasn’t disappointed in them, perhaps righteously angry, but he saw reconciliation as more important.

The shepherd in the Gospel, the woman in search of a lost coin, and the prodigal son’s father are all Jesus’ examples of people who placed healing, seeking, and reconciliation ahead of all else.

Jesus tells us that this is His will for us, His Father’s will, that we be ministers of reconciliation.

We could easily place anything involving ministry in the hands of the clergy or a select few professionals, but that would be a mistake.

It is incumbent that we take up the ministry of reconciliation daily. St. Paul regarded himself as the foremost of sinners, and therefore an example of Jesus’ forgiveness offered generously.

We are called to examine our conscience, taking account of the times we received reconciliation, and our duty to share in Jesus’ ministry.

We have Good News to proclaim which has brought us and entrusts us with bringing others back to Jesus.