The first reading (Ezekiel 33:7-9) explained: In today’s first reading, the Lord God defines the role of an Old Testament prophet. The prophet is Ezekiel who was taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar and brought from Jerusalem to Babylon in 597 B.C., together with King Jehoiachin of Judah (Ez 1:1-3), and most of the nobles of the country. “You, son of man,”Yahweh addresses His prophet, “I have appointed you watchman for the house of Israel; when you hear Me say anything, you shall warn them for Me.” 

Like a watchman, the prophet exists only for the good of others, in this case, those deported with him from Israel to Babylon. He is to give them God’s words, to challenge them, and to correct them from time to time, so that if they should go wrong, the responsibility would be theirs.

Here, Ezekiel gets straightforward orders from Yahweh, assigning responsibility to him and to the people, with no ifs, ands, or buts tolerated. God charges Ezekiel with the responsibility of remaining faithful to his prophetic mission, confronting the wicked with their own wickedness as the Lord God instructs him.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus calls the Church to the same responsibility for confronting the sinful. Very few people in the world today would consider themselves accountable and responsible for anything that happens in the society, but the truth is that we are. For, as Christians, we are all God’s prophets, God’s representatives, God’s watchmen, set on elevated places to give warning of approaching danger to our brothers and sisters.

The prophets of all times have a grave responsibility for their people’s salvation. None of us can retire from the task of being watchmen. As Ezekiel is appointed watchman over the house of Israel in today’s first Reading, so Jesus in the Gospel today establishes His disciples as guardians of the new Israel of God, the Church (see Gal 6:16). They have the power to bind and loose, to forgive sins and to reconcile sinners in His name (see Jn 20:21-23). (Scott Hann). 

The clipart is from the archive of Father Richard Lonsdale © 2000. It may be freely reproduced in any non-profit publication.

The second reading, (Romans 13:8-10) explained: After finishing his treatment of doctrinal questions on Christ and our relationship with him, Paul used to write an application of the doctrine to the day-to-day behavior of the congregation receiving the letter. In today’s reading, after urging the Christian converts of Rome to obey their lawful civil authorities, and after discussing the inability of the Mosaic Law to save anyone, no matter how well he may keep it, Paul adds such an application. He seems to be saying, “You still want the Law? I’ll give you the real law! Love one another. That fulfills the law.”

If God is not known and loved, there can be no basis or motive for true love of neighbor. It is only the Presence of God in each human being and the recognition of others as God’s children that can form a sound basis for the love of our neighbors.  

In short, love is the basis of the law, and we fulfill the law by loving our neighbor. Paul reminds us that love requires that we should watch out for one another’s souls, and love specifies the way our watchful care of one another should be exercised. Mutual and self-giving love is to be the motivation which guides all rescue efforts, whether physical or spiritual. 

The clipart is from the archive of Father Richard Lonsdale © 2000. It may be freely reproduced in any non-profit publication.

Gospel exegesis:  Today’s Gospel deals with the relationship of members of the Church to each other and highlights one of the most painful responsibilities that we have towards others, namely fraternal correction. Matthew expands a saying of Jesus, originally concerned primarily with forgiveness (compare the shorter version in Lk 17:3-4), into a four-step procedure for disciplining members in the new eschatological Community of the Church. 

In the seventeenth century, the great Anglican priest and poet John Donne reminded us, “No man is an island, entire unto himself.” In today’s Gospel, Jesus instructs his disciples about relationships among members of the Church, because through Baptism we assume a serious responsibility for our fellow-believers. Suppose a son or daughter, friend or acquaintance, relative, neighbor, even parent or teacher, does “something wrong” to us, whether the sin is of commission or omission. By outlining a four-step process of confrontation, negotiation, adjudication and excommunication, Jesus tells us how to deal with and finally mend a broken relationship within the Christian fellowship.

 1) Confrontation:  The worst thing that we can do about a wrong done to us is to brood about it. Brooding can poison our whole mind and life, until we can think of nothing else but our sense of personal injury. We mustn’t gossip either.  Hence, the first step proposed by Jesus to the one who has been wronged is that he should go to meet the offender in person, and point out lovingly, but in all seriousness, the harm he has done.  This first stage is designed to let the two people concerned solve the issue between them. If it works out at that level, that is the ideal situation. “You have won back your brother.” Abraham Lincoln said that only he has the right to criticize who has the heart to help.

2) Negotiation:  Suppose the first step does not resolve the situation and the person refuses to admit wrongdoing and continues the bad behavior injuring both himself as well as  the one he has injured. This creates a problem, for example, among young persons, where a friend steals or shoplifts, uses drugs or drinks excessively, hangs around with a bad crowd, plans to run away, contemplates suicide or abortion, or just “goofs off” in school. Here, the second step is to take one or two other members of the Church along with the wronged person to speak to the wrongdoer and to act as confirming witnesses. The taking of the witnesses is not meant to be a way of proving to a man that he has committed an offence. It is meant to assist the process of reconciliation by emphasizing and explaining calmly the gravity of the situation. Nowadays, we call that an “intervention” and the group may also include a qualified third party – counselor, teacher, priest or physician. The Rabbis had a wise saying, “Judge not alone, for none may judge alone except God.”

3) Adjudication: If the negotiation step does not resolve the situation either, the third step is to have the whole Church or community of believers confront the wrongdoer. The case is brought to the Christian fellowship because troubles are never amicably settled by going to a civil court of law. Further, the Church provides an atmosphere of Christian prayer, Christian love and Christian fellowship in which personal relationships may be righted in the light of love and of the Gospel. Finally, in matters of honor and shame, the community is the final arbiter, for the community suffers from the wrong. 

4) Excommunication: If the offender chooses to disregard the believing community’s judgment, the consequence is “excommunication.” This means that if none of the three steps has brought a resolution of the situation, then the wrongdoer should be treated like “a Gentile or a tax collector.”  That is, the wrongdoer should be put out of the Church with the hope that temporary alienation alone may bring the erring person to repentance and change. The sinner is expelled because every obvious case of unrepented sin denies the Gospel’s power and the Church’s mission of reconciling sinners to God and to the community. But the excommunication should be carried out with genuine grief (1 Cor 5:2), not with vindictive glee over another’s “fall” or self-righteous pride. 

Many Scripture scholars think that Jesus would not have suggested this step, and that it is a personal addition by Mathew. They wonder how this type of expulsion can be squared with Jesus’ openness to sinners, including corrupt tax collectors and prostitutes, or with the story of the Prodigal Son. But let us remember that Jesus’ reception of these people depended on their change of heart and the abandonment of their sinful ways, for only these responses enabled them to be reconciled with, and able to receive and respond to the love of God and of the community.  Jesus concludes the action plan by stating that all his disciples have authority to “bind or loose,” that is, to settle conflicts and legal cases between community members. In addition, Jesus gives the assurance that when the Church community gathers in Jesus’ name, in the spirit of prayer, to hear a legal case, Jesus is there to guide and ratify the procedure. 

Four requisites for fraternal correction recommended by “Doctrinal Outlines.” Four things that can make the spiritual work of mercy of “admonishing the sinner” or fraternal correction effective rather than destructive are supernatural outlook, humility, consideration, and affection. Fraternal correction is only to be given because we are convinced God wants it for the sake of the person we are correcting and those affected by him. We pray about him and for him, asking the Holy Spirit if He wants this correction made and how it should be made. That is what a supernatural outlook enables us to do.   

Humility is necessary because we are sinners ourselves and fail in many ways. We could just as easily have the same fault, and we certainly have other imperfections. Nevertheless, God wants us to help each other. It is also necessary to be considerate, that is, to say what we have to say in the least hurtful way possible but without beating around the bush. It is so easy to humiliate another, and no one likes being corrected. Finally, the correction should be given out of love and concern. The motive for the correction is the true good of the others, not the corrector’s own benefit. That is true affection.

The authors of the Days of the Lord, vol. 4, conclude their remarks on today’s Gospel thus: “The perspective of evangelical discipline remains that of forgiveness. A community is Christian in the measure in which all know and want themselves to be responsible for the good of each member. This concern about others’ salvation must be at the heart of every cell of the Church, especially the heart of the family. This is why charitable correction is a duty that, although, difficult, devolves on everyone.”

The clipart is from the archive of Father Richard Lonsdale © 2000. It may be freely reproduced in any non-profit publication.