Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.  Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.All the kings horses and all the kings men, Couldn't put Humpty together again.

The Passion for Reconciliation is, without doubt, the heartbeat of the Gospel.  We might say it is THE Mission of the Church to bring and to make Peace.  Are any of us immune from hurt or from falling out?  Have any of us reached today without making a mistake and hurting others? Probably not.  Heavens agenda is for two disciples on earth who are alienated, to find their way home.  Follow these steps and there is a better chance for Humpty Dumpty.

Step One: Pray for each other and pray for forgiveness and reconciliation.  This is not as obvious as it seems!

Step Two: Meet and get the problem out into the open.  Interestingly, Jesus teaches that the onus is on the one offended to seek out the offender.  Yet, in the same breath He teaches that winning our sister or brother over is less about proving who is right and more about reaching an understanding. The one who is hurt must be able to articulate clearly what their hurt is.  At the same time, they must have the skill of not predicting what the response will be from the offender.  Quite often, we bypass this step, referring our hurt to others in the hope that the offender will be chastised.

Step Three: Find support in the form of mediation.  The Gospel assumes that disciples have the ability to listen. But when we are being challenged it is hard to remain attentive, and we get busy formulating our defence.  Probably because we are more inclined to justify our behaviour rather than truly examine it.  Here, we sometimes swing between self defence and flippant apology.  We can't just say we are sorry for the sake of it.  If we do, no genuine reconciliation will happen.  And so, if confession and self examination are part of our daily routine, we might find we are more flexible when dealing with conflict.
Step Three: Ask the wider community for support.  Which is quite different from just telling others what happened to us.  The wider community might provide someone who will not collude in our need to be stalled.

And then ...... If all these fail, the offending person is considered as one in need of missionary work.  Like Tax Collectors and Gentiles they become special objects of the community's relentless care.

All the above reflect our underlying passion for peace. The spiritually informed person is always searching for the next step, the next possibility which will soften hardness of heart.

The questions are important, and so is the place where they are asked.

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, 'Who do people say that the Son of Man is'. (Matthew: 16,30)

Caesarea Philippi is a mess!  Everything that could happen to violate love or the human person would happen here.  Why would Our Blessed Lord choose this setting to ask his Question or to use the title Son of Man, and to lay the keystone for his Church?

Of course there was then, and is now mindless speculation about Him. Yet, He is absolutely clear that He is here for everyone and that He wants his Church to be born in and stay close to the darkest settings. Heaven and earth are aligned on the Rock of Peters Confession.  Even if the gates of Hell are opened and all negative fury is hurled at this new community it will not prevail.  Why?  Because the Church has a set of keys to the kingdom of Heaven.  This ability to keep the gates open will make the darkness ineffective.

We've all heard the jokes about St Peter working as a full time security officer at the gates of heaven.  But seriously folks, the gates for which he has the keys are the gates of human consciousness.  And this new power and new awareness will support the disciple to meet the horrors of the world head on.  The Disciples mandate is to engage with all situations that uphold the sanctity of life and to disengage from those which bring death.  For this work, The Lord has given us insight and gifts beyond our imagination.  We take time to ponder these things and to figure out how best to bring them to bear of the brokenness of the world.  We work to bring integrity to our faith and how we live in the world.  Then we put flesh on the wider ideas of love, compassion and mercy.

If we imagine that things in the infant church were much easier, less complicated and ideal, we would be wrong.  A huge debate raged as to whether the Joy of the Gospel was to be poured only into the Heart of Israel or if it was meant for everyone.  The Acts of the Apostles is full of it!  

The main Character in today's Gospel is a Tiger! She is a mother, whose daughter is unwell and she will do whatever it takes to make her better.  Notice her approach, but notice more how she narrows down the titles she adorns Jesus with till she simply calls him Lord.  A title which means, and which reminds Him and the Church, You are here for everybody.

There is a person who needs help and she is the single minded servant of that possibility.  She's not going to let the 'small' matters of ethnic hatred or gender get in the way! She reminds Jesus, and therefore us, that while there may be many religions there is only one God and one Humanity.

How many of us, when we are concerned about someone we love, don't become lions and lionesses? (I even had a cat once who was afraid of everything until she had kittens.  The she became a lioness!) We tell those we love who are hurting themselves, I am never going to stop challenging you, even if you sulk or avoid me I am not going away.  We become the unshakable presence in a shaky world!

Faith is this relentless commitment to making the world better and of finding ways to make it happen.  We are ready, alert, poised for whatever it takes.  Does it need an argument?  We argue!   Does it need obedience? We obey!  Does it need confrontation?  We will confront! We bring everything that we are to heal what is broken.  When we get this, suddenly saints are everywhere.  Researchers up all night looking for clues, teachers finding their way into closed minds, teenagers voicing their concerns for justice and peace, children asking questions that disarm us.  The list is endless.

Everyone on the endless list reminds us of the truth if who we are, and help us to unseal the well of compassion so that it goes first to where it is needed most.

One of the most popular pieces of writing is a little thing called 'Footprints in the Sand'.  It's a sentimental piece where God appears to carry us when the storm clouds gather and the wind is trying to bowl us over.  It is a favourite of a particular kind of disciple.  However ...
The disciple is not asked to say prayers but to become prayer.  But the reality for many people is that they only ever 'say' prayers when they are in trouble, or their life is in danger or when they want something badly.  Once the storm has passed and they feel lifted out of the raging sea, they are grateful and then drop God until the next crisis or need appears.

The real adventure of faith, as it is outlined in today's Gospel, is to be rooted in Gods Saving Presence with every breath that we take.  Danger creates fear and fear is a prison cell which will not allow Gods presence.  The boat, Matthews great symbol for the Church, is in danger of sinking.  The disciples (men of little faith still) become afraid and lose their rudder.  But they are not just taking a walk on a dark country lane at night.

We are instead struggling for community in an age of holocaust. Struggling for an end to war and violence, struggling to make poverty, hunger and disease things of the past, struggling to uphold dignity and respect for all of creation, for lives that are pure with love, struggling for beauty and truth in art and education, in healthcare, education and in politics. Working for higher consciousness of the Sacred in our Midst.  In Matthews language, trying to bring heaven to earth!

As we reach for these things we become afraid.  Afraid for our lives, Afraid of Failure.  We notice the winds of change are stronger than we thought.  We imagine that the tsunami of violation, greed, injustice and cruelty will make our own little efforts seems ridiculous. 

But we might keep this on the breath of our prayer.  Before the outstretched arm of Christ reaches out to hold us up, there is no better way to sink!

I sometimes wonder if, like Herod, we are all haunted by what we kill.  And there are many ways to kill someone - like silence, writing them off, ruining their reputation, refusing warmth or forgiveness or love ...... 

Herod has killed John and Jesus is next on his hit list, so he withdraws to the deserts that are of no interest to the rich and powerful.  The crowds follow the man who needs solitude, yet, as they move towards Him, He moves towards them.  Misery meets Mercy and this mercy flows as healing, as God's Presence and care.

But now they are hungry, and it is the disciples turn to become anxious.  They ask Him to send them away.  To their surprise, He asks them to give them something to eat.  And they tell him they have 'nothing' but five and two.  Disciples usually tell God they don't have enough.  But five plus two is a sacred Seven, and the seven reminds them that everything they have is a gift from God.  Jesus asks them to see with His eyes, and when they do, the desert becomes a garden.

Jesus takes the five and two.  He gives thanks to God for it.  His gratitude overflows and this abundance of the Spirit, the Sacred 12, teaches the disciple that where the Spirit moves, there is never not enough to satisfy.

The Divine teacher teaches us all that we have two choices. Look at what we have or what we don't have.  Our answer will determine what is possible! 

Knowing what we have is the first step in spiritual transfiguration.  Jesus asks us to bring that to Him.  He gives thanks for what we have.  This is the second step.  The third is to give it all away to those who will, in turn, give it to others.  

And so, the next time we find ourselves in the desert (and we will!) we will know what to do.