Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint 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.”
I am with you
1) If your brother commits a sin: it is obvious that we all commit sins, no one is free from them. The right attitude to confront them is to help one another, not accuse or judge them. You and I commit sins that are hard to overcome and weigh us down. The key to solve falling down is to seek the causes and take action to avoid falling. Knowing you can fight and face anything is the right attitude towards a better life. But you must fight. You cannot give up either, you may fall, but you must get up and fight again. The issue here is that when we sin, we must be aware of the wrong we are doing and rather than be indifferent we must take action to fix the mistakes in ourselves and help others to do this as well. You are not a referee in a match where you point out the mistakes of others, this is where many Christian falter. Avoid being a judge of others and try to improve on a daily basis.
2) Community: it is important to take the right steps towards correcting your mistakes. Talk them out by yourself first, looking for the error from a kind and close point of view. You must correct to build a beautiful life and help other as well. Your objective is to avoid destroying and stepping on others. The process of facing your problems is fundamental because often times gossip takes over and the person may be humiliated by the things other speak. This is not fixing a mistake; rather it is making it worse. Learn to put yourself in other people´s shoes and be kind. Help them to see what they are unable to see. If they do not listen, seek the help of another person to help you help them. You must never be closed off in helping others. This is not easy feat. There are also limits, you might have tried a million times with no echo on the other person. This is something that you are unable to change and as a result the best way to help someone is always to pray constantly for God to help them see the way. We are all free to accept or reject what we are given, but our duty is to be helpful and unselfish.
3) Communion: Jesus talks about the power of the communion between Christians, to pray for one another and together with others. Our strength lies here, when each Sunday when we gather in mass, we pray and thank God as a community. We become very strong when we come together for a common goal and pray. We strengthen our links when we sing and pray in the name of Jesus. This is where the potential lies to influence others around us. A community that prays together is light and strength for the church.
God bless you and be with you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Don’t forget: Heaven is our goal!
Your contribution help us to continue with our mission
God Bless You!
