Our Collect for today tells us that God has “established the new covenant of reconciliation.” God is always the covenant maker with us, always reaching out to us to draw us into union with the divine. We, however, are not always, and sometimes seldom, ready to commit to the covenant of relationship that God offers. We turn away; we separate ourselves; we ignore the offer, but the good news is that God doesn’t give up on us. Reconciliation with each of us is God’s desire. Just look at the resurrection appearance described in our gospel today: the Holy One tenderly reaching out in reconciliation to those who had deserted Jesus in his time of trial, reaching out to them in a way that spoke to their situation. In the same way, God knows when we are ready for reconciliation and touches our heart with the divine presence in a way that relates to our circumstances, that we can recognize, enabling us to be “reborn into the fellowship of Christ’s Body” as the Collect puts it.

Catherine of Siena in her Dialog___ , translated by Carmen Acevedo Butcher, quotes God as saying, “To make this amazing good news clear to you, I showed [Christ] to you in the image of a bridge stretching from heaven to earth. The bridge is the union of My divine nature with your human nature.” Pause for a moment and picture that bridge in your mind’s eye. Let is speak to you of God’s reconciling grace, bringing you into union with the divine.

For us to incarnate God’s love in the world as Jesus did, to be God’s hand’s and feet and voice in the here and now is what God yearns for. That kind of Spirit-filled life issues only from the bridge of reconciliation, when we surrender our self-centered choices and commit ourselves to the new covenant of God’s love, accepting our role in the fellowship of Christ’s Body.