(Please read the Scripture passage before reading the homily.)
When things get bad between nations, the ambassadors are recalled to their home country. This ensures their safety and sends a rebuke to the offending nation.
Today our leader sends each of us out as ambassadors. Our leader does or recall us; rather Christ sends us out. We have a message. We do not threaten war; we announce peace. We announce that Christ wants to set up embassies in each person we meet. We announce peace.
There was a time when we were not peace. Paul refers to this time as sin. Sin entered the world through one man, Adam. Since Adam, sin held sway in the world until Christ came. Christ came in the garb of a sinner, though without sin himself. Christ died as all sinners have died, but Christ rose again so that “sinners” could live without sin. In Paul’s thought, God made Christ “sin” so that God could make us “peace”. Just as Christ united himself to sinners, so now he joins us to himself as peace.
This makes us ambassadors. God keeps sending us not the world and never recalls us from our embassy. We may wonder how the Russian invasion of Ukraine will turn out, but we can be sure about the outcome of our ambassadorship: it will be peace.
What is the sign that we are ambassadors? We wear ashes today as the symbol of our mission. The ashes are a sign of our sincerity and security. We do not put on a show of fancy words or or wear camouflage. We do not blare trumpets ahead of us; we do not pray fancy words; nor do we put on false faces. Rather, we proclaim the word of God by the reality of our lives.