Word to the Wise
Sunday, September 4, 2011 - 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time - A
[Ezek 33:7-9; Rom 13:8-10; Matt 18:15-20,21]If I tell the wicked, "O wicked one, you shall surely die," and you do not speak out to dissuade the wicked from his way, the wicked shall die for his guilt, but I will hold you responsible for his death. But if you warn the wicked, trying to turn him from his way, and he refuses to turn from his way, he shall die for his guilt, but you shall save yourself. [Ezekiel] If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have wn 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 tax collector. [Matthew]
Can there be a Christian duty more difficult than to confront another person or persons with their destructive behavior in an effort to get them to reform or correct it? Perhaps forgiveness rivals this duty, but we may find a way to forgive without interacting with the offending party. Fraternal correction means communicating with the offending person! How do we react when someone says to us, "I'm telling you this for your own good?" Do we reply, "Who appointed you/me judge?" Or, "There but for the grace of God, go I?" Indeed, there are passages in Jesus' teaching that warn us about judging others! [Luke 6:37] What duty do we have for one another? Do we shrug and ask Cain's famous question: "Am I my brother's keeper?" [Gen. 4:9] Would we prefer to say later, "If only I had said something,....?"
The gospel today seems to recognize the delicacy AND the necessity of fraternal correction, and suggests a process for doing it! A few verses later in the same chapter, this same Gospel of Matthew will also challenge us to forgive the offender "from the heart." Both "duties" are requirements of love! Correction can come in many forms, some cruel and some gentle. Even the best intended "correction," may seem cruel to the one receiving it, as in an intervention against an addiction! I remember well the sessions in which my Novice Master spoke about fraternal correction. I also remember my own efforts to speak about this when I was a Novice Master! I have also served as a local and provincial superior and had to "intervene" when a brother's behavior became a problem in a community. I have agonized over the behavior of a close friend and asked myself, "Should I say something?"
Correction and forgiveness are not the same, but they are both "crosses" that love requires. Yes, they are very difficult, but they are part of what we could call "the cost of discipleship!" AMEN