Gospel: Matthew, 18:15-20
Jesus said to his disciples: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother. If he does not listen,
take one or two others along with you, so that ‘every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church. If he refuses to listen even to the church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector.Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again, amen, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
Homily
I have often mentioned in homilies and sermons the incident which marked my life so much when a mother forgave the man who had killed her only son and not only forgave him but told him that he was now “the son” that she had lost. This spoke to me of the love which all Christians are called to live. Love as you all know, while it can be supported by emotion, is not emotion. Love is a decision of the will to do the best that we can for someone in spite of everything. If love was emotion Christ would never have demanded of us that we love the enemy.
In the gospel given to us this week for our meditation, we are given a strategy for continuing to love in the difficult circumstance in which a brother, someone whom we appreciate hurts us badly. Again, as we all know, the pain is much greater when the offending person is a loved one.
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The culture in which we live has taught us to be extremely individualistic. We are not encouraged to think of the good of an entire grouping. Because of this harmony is not a value for most of us. Yet harmony was God’s primordial gift to humanity and is God’s ongoing desire for the world. For that reason the nature of humans is to be in relationship. Discord, mistrust and selfishness destroy relationships. When this happens within the Christian community, the ability to witness to and to be agents of harmony is destroyed and God’s desire is frustrated and takes so much longer to become reality. For this reason I believe, the Gospel passage sets out to give the disciples of Jesus, the tools with which relationships can be maintained and harmony built.
While in the world of today the preferred mode of conflict resolution between persons and nations appears to be that of threats and force, in this Gospel passage, Jesus proposes a model of conflict resolution based on respect for the other, respect for the wisdom and advice of third parties and ultimately on respect for the decisions of the community.
The preferred mode suggested by Jesus is that of encounter and dialogue between the two parties involved. This mode rests on the conviction that in any struggle there is right and wrong on both sides. It is done outside of the glare of publicity, reducing the possibility of embarrassment for the parties involved. It calls us to acknowledge and accept what is good and right in the position of the other while recognizing what is faulty in our own. When parties can do this, there are no losers; no one loses face, it results in a win – win situation for everyone. Of course this demands sincerity from everyone involved, but what a different world we would live in if this was the preferred mode of relating when difficulties arise between persons and nations. The Gospel calls us then to discover for ourselves the mode of conflict resolution which we use. The Jesus mode is the only one allowed to Christians and as such must be taught in our homes and in our schools. It is only when we have built this new habit of the mind that we will be able to true agents of God’s harmony in our world
Prayer
All powerful and ever-loving God, your Son Jesus was lifted on high to gather all who were scattered. This task now devolves on us the disciples of Jesus. Send your Spirit to us with his gift of wisdom so that we understand our vocation to be agents of harmony and have the strength to fulfill it. We ask this through the intercession of Mary, our mother and Jesus her Son. Amen
