St. John Chrysostom writes that we should listen to the Lord’s words and remember that if we are bringing our gift to the altar and remember that our brother or sister has something against us, we need to leave our gift there before the altar and first go and be reconciled with our brother or sister. Then we can come and offer our gift to the Lord. What does this mean? Am I really to leave my gift, my offering, there? Yes, he says, because this sacrifice is offered so you may live peacefully with your brother or sister. So if the attainment of peace with your neighbor is the object of the gift and you fail to make peace, even if you share in the sacrifice, your lack of peace will make this sharing fruitless. Before all else, therefore, make peace for the sake of which the gift is offered. Then you will truly benefit from it. The Son of God came into the world to reconcile the human race with the Father. St. Paul said that Jesus reconciled all things to himself, destroying enmity in himself by the cross. He came to make peace as well. The Lord calls us blessed if we do the same and shares his title with us. He says the peacemakers are blessed, for they shall be called children of God. So as far as human beings can, we must do what Jesus, the Son of God, did and become a promoter of peace for ourselves and our neighbor. Christ calls the peacemaker a child of God. The only good deed he mentions as essential at the time of his sacrifice is reconciliation with one’s brother or sister. That should show us that of all the virtues, the most important is love.