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. Daily newspapers usually have an advice column — Dear Abby, etc. Every day someone writes a letter with some variation of this: “Dear Abby, my niece is getting married and we are not invited to the wedding. Should I cut my sister out of my life completely?” The response is some variation of this: “Maybe you should talk to her first and tell her how the action made you feel?” In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus says it’s not enough to simply pray for people that we are estranged from. We must make the effort to overcome the differences to find reconciliation. This is not simply good manners a la Dear Abby. It is how we show ourselves to be part of the family of God who are called to live in charity and unity.
