Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on SoundOn
Tuesday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
Ephesians 2:12–22
Saint Paul tells the Ephesians to remember where they came from.
Before Christ, they were far away.
Living without hope
And without God in the world.
That sounds very sad.
But it also sounds very modern.
Many people today also feel far away.
Far away from God.
Far away from others.
Far away from themselves.
They do not know where their life is going.
Our world is also full of walls.
Walls between nations.
Walls between rich and poor.
Walls between political groups.
Walls between generations.
Walls inside families.
And sometimes, walls inside the human heart.
We may smile outside, but inside we are divided.
We want peace, but carry anger.
We want love, but protect ourselves with pride.
We want closeness, but are afraid to trust.
Into this situation, Saint Paul speaks one of the most beautiful lines in the New Testament:
“Christ is our peace.”
On the Cross, Jesus takes upon Himself the hatred, sin, fear, and division of the world.
Human beings reject Him.
But He does not answer with hatred.
He answers with mercy.
He stretches out His arms on the Cross, and in those open arms, God begins to gather His scattered children.
Saint Paul says that Christ broke down the wall of hostility.
He made Jews and Gentiles one people.
He reconciled both to God through the Cross.
This is the Gospel.
Sin separates.
Christ reconciles.
Sin makes us strangers.
Christ brings us home.
Sin builds walls.
Christ makes peace.
And this peace is not only for the past.
It is for us now.
If Christ is our peace, then we cannot keep living as people of division.
We cannot receive His mercy and continue feeding hatred.
We cannot belong to His Body and treat others as enemies forever.
We cannot ask Him to forgive us while refusing to let His peace enter our relationships.
The Ephesians are no longer strangers or outsiders.
They belong to God’s household.
That is also our identity.
The Church is not a club for perfect people.
It is a home for those who were far away and have been brought near by Christ.
Today, we can ask ourselves:
Where do I still feel far away from God?
What wall is Christ asking me to let Him break down?
Who have I treated as a stranger, when Christ wants to make us brothers and sisters?
Christ is our peace.
So let us come again to Him.
And let Him make us, once again, a dwelling place for God.
Biblical Reflections on the Gospel of Matthew
Scripture Attribution
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition,
copyright © 1989, 1993
the Division of Christian Education of the National Council
of the Churches of
Christ in the United States of America.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Content License
© 2025 Krakus.
Licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0
(Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial).