The theme that links our First Reading and Gospel today is that of peace.  Isaiah looks forward to the coming of the Messiah as a time when the exiles will return to Jerusalem and bring with them the blessings of peace.  He likens it to the embrace of mother and child.  This is the blessing Jesus has come to give.  When he sends out his disciples in pairs to prepare the way for his own visits this is the message they are to bring.  One of the blessings of peace will be the healing of the sick because in Hebrew ‘shalom’ means more than the absence of war.  It is about the restoration of wholeness and broken relationships.  However, it is a gift we are free to reject and if we reject the message we also deprive ourselves of the blessings God wishes us to enjoy, not least that of inner wholeness.  This can happen when bitterness of heart or anger causes us to reject another person’s reaching out to make peace with us.  Think of the reaction of the older son in the parable of the Prodigal Son!  We must settle on God’s terms not our own.  So much human conflict arises from our unwillingness to compromise, whether on the international scene or at the individual level.