People of Reconciliation – Henri Nouwen

If you dare to believe that you are beloved before you were born, you may suddenly realize that your life is very, very special. You become conscious that you were sent here just for a short time, for twenty, forty, or eighty years, to discover and believe that you are a beloved child of God. The length of time doesn’t matter. You are sent into this world to believe in yourself as God’s chosen one and then to help your brothers and sisters know that they are also beloved sons and daughters of God who belong together. You’re sent into this world to be a people of reconciliation. You are sent to heal, to break down the walls between you and your neighbors, locally, nationally, and globally. Before all the distinctions, the separations, and the walls built on the foundations of fear, there was unity in the mind and heart of God. Out of that unity, you are sent into this world for a little while to claim that you and every other human being belongs to that same God of Love who lives from eternity to eternity. — Finding My Way Home: Pathways to Life and the Spirit

Reflection Question: Where might God be calling you to break down walls with your neighbors today?

The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved – you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness. – Jeremiah 31: 3