September 6, 2020

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time  

“Daunting Steps for Every Disciple”

Msgr. Thomas Gervasio

We could easily name the seven sacraments and even the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, but most of us would struggle to name the seven spiritual works of mercy. One of them is the subject of today’s Gospel—admonishing the sinner. We more often refer to it as fraternal correction. It is a duty that is often so difficult, we seek to avoid it.

The prospect of correcting someone is rather daunting, often scary. How do we go about it? We fear offending another. We fear appearing judgmental or arrogant. We fear the reaction we could get. A Slavic proverb cautions us, “Tell the truth and run.” Yet, we should not run from this duty since it is based in Christian charity, in genuine concern for the welfare of our neighbor. Christians should possess a zeal for others.

In a certain sense we are right to hesitate before attempting to practice fraternal correction because it must be carried out in a certain way. It requires reflection and prayer. We cannot just go in and say to someone, “Now look, you are all wrong and now I am going to tell you something. I am going to set you straight.” This approach is bound for failure.

Fraternal correction requires prudence, refinement, and tact. St. Jose Maria Escriva said that “correction should never be wounding, never an arrogant moral slap in our neighbor’s face.” Fraternal correction never humiliates the person.

Our Lord helps us in the practice of fraternal correction by providing a step by step plan.

The first step Jesus advises is a private, one on one encounter— “between you and him alone,” says Jesus. With the right word and in the right way, this approach often resolves the issue. Peace can be achieved. We may successfully guide our brother or sister onto a new path.

However, the Lord realizes that Step One can fail because the duty to speak must be paralleled by the duty to listen. If we are the subject of fraternal correction, we must have the humility to listen and not raise sound-proof walls.

Should our words fall on deaf ears, Our Lord tells us to move to Step Two. He tells us to involve another person, perhaps someone who is known to both parties. Our inclination when we are wronged, hurt, or when we see a loved one taking a path leading to spiritual or physical harm, is to talk or gossip to everyone except the person concerned. Worse still to bring our issues to social media. Our Lord’s approach is to seek the counsel of others. Today we might call it an “intervention.” This can bring about the resolution and peace everyone desires.

Still, Jesus, with full knowledge of human nature says that if this too comes to naught, we should treat our neighbor as a Gentile or tax collector. Some would read this as a license to write off, ostracize and abandon the person. Yet, Jesus treated Gentiles and tax-collector with compassion and mercy. Jesus is saying, “Never give up! We don’t say, “Now, he or she can crawl to me when he is ready.” We don’t avoid. We don’t leave when that person enters the room. The Lord would have us keep the door open, very much like the father toward his prodigal son.

The Gospel passage ends with our Lord directing us to prayer. “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I, in the midst of them.” Perhaps we can do this today. If we have something against a brother or sister, let us do something about it. It is not easy, but Jesus did not come to make life easy; he came to make us great. Something for all of us to think about and pray about, starting with me.
 

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

I Am My Brother’s Keeper

Deacon Kevin O'Boyle

“Am I my Brother’s Keeper?”” Our Readings today in a quiet way ask and answer that age-old question. Put simply, in issues of right and wrong, the answer is yes. We are called to correct an errant brother or sister as a demand of charity toward them. Let’s look at the readings:

In our first reading, Ezekiel spells out, in the words of the Lord, that if Ezekiel does not warn the wicked one to dissuade him, the wicked one will die, but God will hold Ezekiel liable for his death. But if Ezekiel does attempt to warn the wicked one, the wicked one will die for his guilt, but Ezekiel will be saved. So, if we know of another’s guilt, we are called on to try to stop them – we are our brother’s keeper in this regard.

In our second reading, Paul, after listing many of the commandments, summarizes them as one, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” This certainly simplifies our duty from the first reading. If we know someone is going to hurt his neighbor, we are obligated to try to stop this.

In our Gospel today, Jesus explains what we are to do if someone wrongs us. Go to the brother first ourselves. If he will not listen, bring one or two witnesses. If he still refuses to listen, go to the Church. If he refuses the Church, then essentially expel him. By way of clarification, later in this reading, Jesus uses words, addressing all the disciples, like those he used with Peter a couple of weeks ago in granting him the keys to the kingdom. Scholars here, however, in looking at the context, believe Jesus was only speaking as regards to excommunication, not the full loose and bind authority given to Peter.

So, what might all this mean to us today? What decisions are we all making, where we may feel a brother is wrong? I refer to the decisions we each must make in the coming weeks in the national elections. Let me first begin by reiterating what Bishop O’Connell recently wrote all priests and deacons. The Church takes no official stand in any election. We do not support one party or one candidate over the other. We simply encourage each person to decide based on their well-formed conscience, while considering all relevant Church teachings. The Catholic Bishops of the United States publishes a document, “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship” to help Catholics in this important duty. Quoting from paragraph 17 of that document:

The Church equips its members to address political and social questions by helping them to develop a well-formed conscience. Catholics have a serious and lifelong obligation to form their consciences in accord with human reason and the teaching of the Church. Conscience is not something that allows us to justify doing whatever we want, nor is it a mere “feeling” about what we should or should not do. Rather, conscience is the voice of God resounding in the human heart, revealing the truth to us, and calling us to do what is good while shunning what is evil. Conscience always requires serious attempts to make sound moral judgments based on the truths of our faith. As stated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “Conscience is a judgment of reason whereby the human person recognizes the moral quality of a concrete act that he is going to perform, is in the process of performing, or has already completed. In all he says and does, man is obliged to follow faithfully what he knows to be just and right.

In paragraph 18, the document describes 3 steps to developing an informed conscience, which I will summarize as follows:

1. Have a desire to embrace goodness and truth, which for Catholics means studying Sacred Scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

2. Examine the facts and background information about the various choices.

3. Prayerful reflection to discern the will of God.

The Bishops go on to say:

As we all seek to advance the common good—by defending the inviolable sanctity of human life from the moment of conception until natural death, by promoting religious freedom, by defending marriage, by feeding the hungry and housing the homeless, by welcoming the immigrant and protecting the environment— it is important to recognize that not all possible courses of action are morally acceptable. We have a responsibility to discern carefully which public policies are morally sound.

This document is over 50 pages long and can be downloaded from the USCCB website. It has considerable information on Church teachings and sources you can read. All of these come back to Paul’s summary of loving one another as yourself. Remembering the writing of Ezekiel this week, once we discern our answer, we should counsel those we feel are wrong – with witnesses or the Church (perhaps through her teachings) as instructed by Jesus in our Gospel.

In the end, of course, the decision of who to vote for is the individual voter’s right, based on that well-formed conscience. The Church, diocese, the parish, nor I will answer that question for you from this pulpit on our website, or in a bulletin. It is truly something we must all think about in the coming weeks. God Bless.