20140907 CHRISTIAN CORRECTION OF AN ERRANT MEMBER OF THE COMMUNITY
First
reading Ezekiel 33:7-9 ©
The
word of the Lord was addressed to me as follows: ‘Son of man, I have appointed
you as sentry to the House of Israel. When you hear a word from my mouth, warn
them in my name. If I say to a wicked man: Wicked wretch, you are to die, and
you do not speak to warn the wicked man to renounce his ways, then he shall die
for his sin, but I will hold you responsible for his death. If, however, you do
warn a wicked man to renounce his ways and repent, and he does not repent, then
he shall die for his sin, but you yourself will have saved your life.’
Psalm
Psalm
94:1-2,6-9 ©
O
that today you would listen to his voice! ‘Harden not your hearts.’
Come,
ring out our joy to the Lord;
hail the rock who saves us.
Let
us come before him, giving thanks,
with songs let us hail the Lord.
O
that today you would listen to his voice! ‘Harden not your hearts.’
Come
in; let us bow and bend low;
let us kneel before the God who made us:
for
he is our God and we
the people who belong to his pasture,
the flock that is led by his hand.
O
that today you would listen to his voice! ‘Harden not your hearts.’
O
that today you would listen to his voice!
‘Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as on that day at Massah in the desert
when
your fathers put me to the test;
when they tried me, though they saw my work.’
O
that today you would listen to his voice! ‘Harden not your hearts.’
Second
reading Romans 13:8-10 ©
Avoid
getting into debt, except the debt of mutual love. If you love your fellow men
you have carried out your obligations. All the commandments: You shall not
commit adultery, you shall not kill, you shall not steal, you shall not covet,
and so on, are summed up in this single command: You must love your neighbour
as yourself. Love is the one thing that cannot hurt your neighbour; that is why
it is the answer to every one of the commandments.
Gospel
Acclamation Jn17:17
Alleluia,
alleluia!
Your
word is truth, O Lord:
consecrate
us in the truth.
Alleluia!
Or 2Co5:19
Alleluia,
alleluia!
God
in Christ was reconciling the world to himself,
and
he has entrusted to us the news that they are reconciled.
Alleluia!
Gospel
Matthew
18:15-20 ©
Jesus
said, ‘If your brother does something wrong, go and have it out with him alone,
between your two selves. If he listens to you, you have won back your brother.
If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you: the evidence of
two or three witnesses is required to sustain any charge. But if he refuses to
listen to these, report it to the community; and if he refuses to listen to the
community, treat him like a pagan or a tax collector.
‘I tell you solemnly, whatever you bind on
earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be
considered loosed in heaven.
‘I tell you solemnly once again, if two of
you on earth agree to ask anything at all, it will be granted to you by my
Father in heaven. For where two or three meet in my name, I shall be there with
them.’
CHRISTIAN
CORRECTION OF AN ERRANT MEMBER OF THE COMMUNITY
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: EZ 33:7-9; ROM 13:8-10; MT 18:15-20
http://www.universalis.com/20140907/mass.htm
The issue posed to us in
today’s gospel is what should one do when someone in the Christian community
sins? Dealing with someone who has disturbed the peace of the community
is perhaps one of the most difficult tasks in life. How can we be honest
and yet compassionate in dealing with the fractures in community living?
One way of dealing with the
situation is to ignore the reality and allow the evil to continue.
We sweep everything under the carpet and excuse ourselves saying, “I am not my
brother’s keeper.” Or some excuse themselves by saying that we should not
judge.
At the root of it all, is
that we are afraid of confrontation and intervention. We are
afraid of rejection, inconvenience, misunderstanding and loss of
acceptance. At the same time, we also know that the failure to deal with
the situation, especially if we ourselves have been hurt directly, and brooding
over the matter will poison our mind and heart further until we find ourselves
unable to have any relationship with the person. One clear sign that we
are destroying ourselves is when we begin to brood over the offence of someone
and find ourselves gossiping and complaining about him. That is why the
Lord warns, “If, however, you do warn a wicked man to renounce his ways and
repent, and he does not repent, then he shall die for his sin, but you yourself
will have saved your life.”
Yet, the theme of today’s
readings makes is clear that we have responsibilities for the well-being not
only of each other but also to the community. Sin has a social dimension.
Whenever someone sins, the community, be it the larger community of the parish
community, the Church or society or our family, is somehow affected. We
cannot pretend that it does not affect us as we are inter-related and
inter-dependent, more so if we are directly connected because of family ties or
spiritual ties.
Secondly, we owe each other
the debt of mutual love. St Paul reminds us, “Avoid getting into
debt, except the debt of mutual love. If you love your fellow men you have
carried out your obligations. All the commandments: You shall not commit
adultery, you shall not kill, you shall not steal, you shall not covet, and so
on, are summed up in this single command: You must love your neighbour as
yourself.” Indeed, as brothers and sisters, we are called to love
each other and ensure the well-being of each other.
Love therefore is the
fundamental motive and
principle for the correction of errant sinners. It is our love for the
sinner as an individual and for the community that impels us to act for the
good of all. As St Paul says, “Love is the one thing that cannot
hurt your neighbour; that is why it is the answer to every one of the
commandments.”
Indeed, the failure to
offer correction will first and foremost destroy the sinner, especially
when he is ignorant, and then the whole community. God said
through Prophet Ezekiel, “When you hear a word from my mouth, warn them in my
name. If I say to a wicked man: Wicked wretch, you are to die, and you do not
speak to warn the wicked man to renounce his ways, then he shall die for his
sin, but I will hold you responsible for his death.” So what is at stake
is not simply that we have lost our peace but also that of the community and
the person who has done us harm.
For this reason, the Lord reminded
us, “Son of man, I have appointed you as sentry to the House of
Israel.” As Christians, we have a prophetic calling not so much to
predict the future but to enlighten the present state of the situation.
Our mission, like the prophets of old, is to announce God’s word both to the
community and the individual person. In the gospel, Jesus makes it
clear that as his disciples, we should not tolerate a breach in relationships
in the community. Sin must be confronted and relationships must be restored,
lest the whole community becomes divided, beginning with one sinner.
Failure to repair relationships will surely affect the community as it will sow
seeds of misunderstanding, mistrust and gossip.
How then can we repair a
damaged relationship? The first principle is that we must take the
initiative in seeking reconciliation, that is, to make things right.
The truth is that most of us avoid confrontation. We would prefer not to
rock the boat and let things go. Yet, we continue to brood over them at
the same time because we cannot pretend things are right when they are
not. But by not confronting the person, we can nurse the unhappiness into
anger and resentment.
Of course, quite often we wrongly
believe that the person who has offended us should take the initiative
instead. He or she should be the one who should seek forgiveness and
reconciliation. That would be ideal. Yet, the truth is that quite often,
the person himself might even be ignorant that he has hurt us. At times,
they simply do not care, presuming it is a small matter. Or worse still,
they might think that we are responsible and equally to be blamed.
Secondly, we must deal
with it privately and personally with the individual who has done the
harm. If we want to settle a problem, it must be dealt with face to
face. This is the recommendation of Jesus, “If your brother does
something wrong, go and have it out with him alone, between your two selves. If
he listens to you, you have won back your brother.” Quite often, we are
insensitive to what is happening. Indeed, how often do we find ourselves
avoided by some people apparently for no reason known to us. Some of us
would have gladly apologized if we have hurt another. But the offended
party never tells us.
Next, Jesus says, “If he
does not listen, take one or two others along with you: the evidence of two or
three witnesses is required to sustain any charge.” In other words,
if the first method fails, then we must find some people who could perhaps
be more objective than ourselves or wise enough to see the full spectrum of
the issue. In finding help from another person, the goal is not so much
to expose or pressurize the offender and put him on trial but to help the
person to recognize the wrong and that our judgment is not biased but
objective. In this way, we might be able to win back our brother.
But if this also fails, we
must not give up too easily. Instead, we should seek the help of the Christian
community. Sometimes, community discernment is necessary to deal with
a sensitive issue. Jesus said, “But if he refuses to listen to these,
report it to the community.” Once again, this measure is not to humiliate
and expose the sinner. Rather, it is the hope that the broken
relationship could be restored when the whole Christian community prays and
seeks a solution based on Christian love and wisdom rather than resorting to a
civil lawsuit.
And finally, Jesus said,
“And if he refuses to listen to the community, treat him like a pagan or a tax
collector.” This last action seems to be harsh and lacking charity.
Indeed, excommunication often has been grossly misunderstood. When
someone is excommunicated, it is always the last resort and never a permanent
situation. The purpose of excommunication is intended to wake up the sinner
to the gravity of his sin which has affected not only himself but the peace and
unity of the whole community. So in order to protect the interests of the
community and to bring him to realization, excommunication is used. But
it is not to be understood as a punitive act. Rather, it is meant to be a
help to self-realization.
So, even when the community
excommunicates a sinner, it is with the intention of bringing about
reconciliation. Since all other avenues have been exhausted and dialogue
failed because of the stubbornness of the sinner, that person must be put
outside of the community so that he can rethink his situation. In fact,
excommunication is the most painful decision the authorities could take on any
individual, since the Christian community always puts compassion and
forgiveness above all else.
Having explained the
process of reconciliation, we must not deem that the whole matter ends with
excommunication. On the contrary, the Christian always lives in hope that
one day, the person will repent and come back to God. We must never give
up on a sinner.
Furthermore, we are called
to deal with our own pain and hurt as well. Taking the initiative is not
sufficient but we must always leave the door open for reconciliation.
It is our desire that we will be reconciled so that there will be peace and
unity among God’s people. We do not continue to harbour anger in our
hearts. On the contrary, we should feel sad for the breach of unity
and pray as the gospel asks us, that with God’s grace, reconciliation will
become possible. We must remember the words of the prophet, that God
takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked but wants them to repent from
their ways and live.
Consequently, we must continue
to pray for them. We must take heart and trust in the power of prayer
for Jesus said, “I tell you solemnly once again, if two of you on earth agree
to ask anything at all, it will be granted to you by my Father in heaven. For
where two or three meet in my name, I shall be there with them.” Yes, we
must ask for healing, enlightenment and reconciliation. God will somehow
give us the grace of reconciliation if only we trust in Him. Hope,
humility and love of God and our fellowmen will see us through in such painful
recognition of our sinfulness. But we know that it is not sin but grace
that will have the last word.
WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV WILLIAM GOH
ARCHBISHOP OF SINGAPORE
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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