Your brother has anything against you.

“Therefore, 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.” (MT 5: 22-23)

This is not good news for those, who’s the first solution for everything is to pray (man is the way of the church). We do not have two different worlds: one for God, where we are finally understood, loved, and comforted, and the other one, where our relatives are wrong, life is cruel, and we feel totally alone (I am not talking about horrible situations like violence, alcoholism, or betrayal). In our normal lives, the first step is “go first and be reconciled with your brother (spouse…) and then come and offer your gift.” When we are married, we are invited to include our spouses in our relationship with God. 

“Cast away from you all the crimes you have committed, says the LORD, and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.” (Verse before the Gospel)