"If he listens to you have won over your brother"
Matthew 18: 15-20
The Word: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/091023.cfm
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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 not quite over, 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 next year. This has been a tough year. It feels like we have lost our sense of community and the common good in favor of a narcissistic “me first” attitude.
But can we live in isolation
from one another? Our readings this Sunday seem to imply that we make an effort
to look out for one another for the sake of unity in the Church. The broken
nature of our government policies and school classrooms with this deeply
divisive assault on the human person as we attempt to redefine what it means to
be a man or woman, is affecting our whole vision as a nation. The overriding
theme of our readings is the importance of authority to correct individuals
whose behavior and example are the cause of division or scandal. Yet to do so
with respect for the person out of love.
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 reveals
Matthew’s effort to speak to the practical lived out experience of the Church
community. Jesus addresses his disciples
(Apostles) about how they are to lead as good shepherds. He lays out a most practical
example of how Christian leaders of the early Church communities addressed
problems they found among the growing diversity of Jew and Gentile.
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 favor of a non-judgmental toleration without the loving call
to conversion.
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 converts had been shunned from the pure Jewish communities. With the new Gentile converts the Jewish
acceptance of Jesus’ Messianic claims, established themselves as a distinct and
new community, yet still tied to their Jewish roots, prayers, and worship. No
longer pure Jews who now embraced the known “unclean” world a new vision of Church
arose as inclusive of all, God’s salvation offered to all humanity and not just
a few select, and the authority of Christ passed on to leaders who could teach,
govern, and sanctify. So, the very nature of this diverse community called for
a pastoral leadership who would maintain unity in the one Church.
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.
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 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.”
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. We gather as
sinners in need of healing, all walking on the same road, seeking the mercy of
God and expressing our concern for our neighbor. 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, 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.”
I feel sorrow for teachers
in our public schools these days who find themselves torn between their
religious principles, their conscience, and their love for teaching. As the
strange and damaging assault on children and youth being indoctrinated into an
anti-male and female attack, they find themselves torn. Any effort at correction or adjustment is met
with rejection and threat. This is not
the work of a good spirit and so we must pray and stand up for the common good
and the dignity of the person, pointing out the danger that is being inflicted.
Love demands such an action.
We are not alone 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."
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