"Love does no evil to the neighbor . . . love is the fulfillment of the Law"
Matthew 18: 15 - 20
On one level the readings for this Sunday, in particular the Gospel from Matthew, may seem especially intrusive in a way for our modern 21st century American minds which pride our independence and toleration of others. There is no doubt that we live in very disturbing times right now with the pandemic culture that has sprung up, the violence in our streets, pointed accusations from both sides of the political spectrum as to who is at fault and who is the best leader for this Country as we approach another very contentious Presidential election in just two months. This has not been a good year and 2020 will go down in history as one of the most challenging for all humanity. It feels like we’ve lost so much and we’re going to be in a time of reconstruction, whenever this is over.
But can we live in isolation from one another? Those who
carry weight these days are speaking about “social distancing” so we avoid
others in some strange fear that everyone is a likely source of infection! We close ourselves in homes and gather only
in small numbers while keeping our faces covered and no closer than six feet to
those around us. So, in light of our
readings this Sunday which seem to imply that we make an effort to reach out
and to look out for one another, it might be particularly difficult.
Yet we need to in a way that brings us to see that our
common bond, despite all that is before us this year, is still the common good
of everyone and that love for each other is still and always will be the mark
of a Christian community.
Our Gospel this Sunday lays out for us a most practical
example of how Christians of the early Church communities addressed problems
they found between themselves. How did
these early communities, “home churches” really, deal with the difficulties and
human tensions that naturally rise between people? What is at stake here is not
just the end of an argument. But how to
deal with a divided community and how to address problems that may potentially
cause scandal and bring further conflict. In other words, how do we name the sin we see, the evil before us, but to do so with love? It seems all to often these days we just look the other way.
In the early first century of the Christian faith those
who followed the new way proposed by Jesus and his followers found themselves
having to establish a certain independence from their own past history. The Temple of Jerusalem had been destroyed,
Jews were dispersed around the ancient world and the Christian believers had
been shunned from the Jewish communities.
With the new Gentile converts to Christianity they established
themselves as a distinct and new community. No longer pure Jews who now
embraced the known “unclean” world.
While many Jewish traditions were still adopted, a new
understanding of God and a new level of acceptance and inclusiveness settled on
them. Now it was the new law of love
which bound them together and lessened the distinctions between people. It was
to think with the mind of Christ. This was more than just a new community built
upon a rich and ancient history but now a new way, a new direction based in the
belief of Jesus as the anointed One of God – the Messiah – which had opened its
doors to the world around it. And many
other contrary forces entered.
But because we are sinners trying to be saints it was
inevitable that conflict and division would arise in these communities. There may have been issues of scandal or
disagreements over matters of behavior and pastoral care for the members. Rather than seek equal justice, “an eye for
an eye” as it were, the good of the whole and Jesus’ own command to love needed
to be applied through practical behavior and the moral principle of
forgiveness.
Fraternal correction is one way to describe our
responsibility not to police each other but to assist one another in the
Christian way of life. We have a certain
responsibility to support one another to stay on the mark, to avoid sin, and as
a community to be constantly open to receive and live the message of the
Christian way. In short, the Bible reminds us that we are not isolated
individuals sort of just plodding along by ourselves.
So the Gospel reveals what the early Church had
established for the sake of the spiritual health of the whole Christian
community. The model of correction
begins at the bottom and works its way to the top only if necessary.
So the first approach is that of reconciliation between
two offended members. “If your brother (sister) sins against you go
and tell him his fault.” With love
and forgiveness and respect for the other person, we seek reconciliation rather
than retribution. It’s not about eyes and teeth but about building bridges
between people. The successive levels of
awareness end with treating the un-reconciled one as a “gentile or tax
collector.”
While this may sound harsh, let’s remember whose Gospel
we are reading today – that of the tax collector Matthew. Matthew was called by Jesus to his own inner
circle and the gentiles were ultimately treated with acceptance and included in
the early Church with charity. What is best for the common good and what is a
danger to division? How can we seek
healing with love?
This call to fraternal correction is not a permit for
gossip or being nosey or for spending our days interfering in my neighbor’s
business. Rather, it is an act of love for the sake of each other’s good. To
help and guide one another to stay on the mark, to avoid sin, and to
collectively live the often demanding moral standards of our Christian way of
life.
While the Gospel seems to emphasize verbal communication
I think that as important as that is, if we ourselves are not good examples to
one another and to the world in which we live, how can we ever expect to be
included or forgiven ourselves?
For us Catholic Christians there is no better moment to
experience this principle of unity than during our Eucharist celebrations. In this time in which our Church attendance
has been so limited by “safe numbers” and “social distancing” we are still all
walking on the same road, seeking the mercy of God and expressing our concern
for our neighbor we know and for the larger world around us. Only by our courageous witness to the Gospel
will Jesus become present in the culture today.
The love which Jesus seeks is based in a unity of persons
– “agape” a group united in a common fellowship. In the case of Christian communities, we are
united by our common baptism and our shared faith in the Lord Jesus. How can we be an inspiration to one
another? How can we best care for the
neediest in our midst?
When disagreements rise or the behavior of someone in a particular group is disruptive or even worse, how do we address that? Like Ezekiel the prophet in our first reading we must feel some responsibility for one another and care about their common good.
The guide which Jesus speaks of today reflects the
experience of Matthew’s Church but is as helpful to present day parishes,
parents in the home, teachers in school, or to any who seek to maintain order for
the common good of all. “Where two or three are gathered together in
my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
We are not alone, therefore, despite the warnings of experts who encourage
us to avoid one another in order to not be infected but we are all sinners trying to be saints through
lives of love, forgiveness and care for one another's salvation in Christ.
"Love is a one way street. It always moves
away from self in the direction of the other.
Love is the ultimate gift of ourselves
to others.
When we stop giving, we stop loving,
when we stop loving we stop growing,
and unless we grow we will never
attain personal fulfillment;
we will never open out to receive
the life of God.
It is through love we encounter God."
St. Teresa of Calcutta
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