In CHRIST, GOD Reconciled The World With HIMSELF

 "For that same reason, the one who is in CHRIST is a new creature.  For him, the old things have passed away; a new world has come.  All this is the work of GOD, who, in CHRIST, reconciled us to HIMSELF, and who entrusted to us the ministry of reconciliation.  Because, in CHRIST, GOD reconciled the world with HIMSELF, no longer taking into account their trespasses, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

So we present ourselves as ambassadors, in the name of CHRIST, as if GOD, HIMSELF, makes an appeal to you, through us.  Let GOD reconcile you; this, we ask you, in the name of CHRIST.  HE had no sin, but GOD made HIM bear our sin, so, that, in HIM, we might share the holiness of GOD." - 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 

(The one who is in CHRIST is a new creature: first because the barriers that divide and separate people no longer exist for him [see Galatians 3:27; Ephesians 2:14-16].  Also because it is not human desires that guide him, but the Spirit of GOD who recreates him at every instant [Galatians 5:13-21].

In CHRIST, GOD reconciled the world with HIMSELF.  Many people like to say: JESUS is love.  This is true, but let us not forget that this love is HIS response to the love of the FATHER who wishes to reconcile us; we must do away with the idea of an angry GOD whom JESUS tries to appease [Romans 3:25].

Who entrusted to us the ministry of reconciliation.  Christians are not satisfied with only singing the praises of GOD, and their supreme aspiration is not to find a likeable community.  They do their part in the task of universal reconciliation that supposes a denunciation of injustice and sin, and the effort to overcome them.  Today the Church says a great deal about this so that we may better understand our mission in the world and in the conflicts and tensions that tear our nations apart.

We present ourselves as ambassadors in the name of CHRIST.  This is not only true of the apostles and Paul.  It is also meant for us when we go to visit the sick or the needy; when, overcoming suspicion, we approach our brother and sister to create an atmosphere of confidence, so that, shortly, we may arrive at fraternal fellowship with others who have the same problems but who, in spite of that, often remain locked in their selfishness.

HE had no sin.  It is difficult to translate Paul's words: "HE made sin HIM who did not know sin," for obviously Paul here speaks according to Hebrew culture where the same word denotes both the sin and the victim who carries the sin.  Paul recalls the mystery of the cross: reconciliation is not achieved without voluntary victims who take on themselves the hatred and the sin of humankind.)

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