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.”
Win over your brother
1. Fraternal Correction. This is a topic that could greatly help the Church and society. Jesus gave us an amazing tool that can aid humanity, but we don’t use it. Many of us use our own version of fraternal correction to tear down our brothers and sisters, turning the Church into a “Big Brother” or a reality show where if you get caught, you’re “nominated” for eviction. There’s also a different situation in which the person being corrected often doesn’t see it as an act of love but gets offended. This makes it a bit difficult. Jesus even teaches us the steps we must take. I invite you to think about who you need to offer fraternal correction to. The “how” is right here in the Gospel.
2. Fraternal encouragement. Another thing we’ve let aside is fraternal encouragement. We forget that while correction means pointing out mistakes, if a brother or sister is doing things well, we need to encourage them and support them with our presence, because it’s good for them. We’re always quick to deliver bad news and tear down those who mess up. But let’s encourage those who are working hard, with sincere encouragement and not finding faults. I’m referring to those people who say nice things then cut you off with “but…” and after the “but” comes a barrage of things that end up crushing you. It’s like nurses giving you a shot in the rear: they massage it, you relax, then comes the jab, and it’s so painful.
3. The power of prayer. The Gospel shows us how powerful prayer is, and what it means to pray for a situation or for someone. Before you correct, pray, and after you correct, pray again. If I have one regret, it’s that I focused too much on “doing” and too little on “being.” Prayer is the essence of priesthood. Pray and talk with God. Don’t neglect this key element of our Christian life, it’s something I really admire about my evangelical brothers and sisters who have learned it quite well. Today, I invite you to some time to come to God in prayer.
Remember that something good is on the way!
God bless you and guard you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
