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September 06, 2020

23rd Sunday Ordinary

Am I my brother’s keeper? Am I my sister’s keeper? In Genesis, the first Book of the Bible, God asks Cain: “Where is Abel?” Cain replies: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” We have been asking the same question forever. The answer to the question is “yes.”

In our first reading, God tells the Jewish prophet Ezekiel to warn the wicked about being wicked, but he also warns the prophet, whom God calls the Watchman, that he will be held responsible if does not try to dissuade the wicked from their wayward path. St. Paul, in his Letter to the Romans, phrases this responsibility in a positive manner: “Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another.” After citing the “do not” commandments (adultery, killing, stealing, and coveting), St. Paul sums up all the “do not” commandments as “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love for neighbor, at times, expresses itself in brotherly and sisterly correction.

Jesus, by his deeds and in his teaching, sets an example for fraternal and sisterly correction among his disciples that takes shape in the evangelist Matthew’s community. We notice four steps. If your brother sins against you “tell him his fault … alone.” If he refuses to listen “take one or two others along with you.” If he refuses to listen “tell the church.” If he refuses even the church “treat him as you would a Gentile or tax collector.” The last step sounds harsh but remember how Jesus treats Gentiles and tax collectors.

We can we learn from and adapt these verses to occasions in our lives when we have a responsibility to correct or discipline. It must be thoughtful – finding the right time, place, and words to discuss the matter. We must be mindful of our motivation. Are we angry about or ashamed of the other’s behavior? Are we genuinely concerned about the welfare of the other person? Have we prayed for the Holy Spirit to purify our motivation?

Before we decide on brotherly and sisterly correction, we must ask ourselves if we are receptive to criticism? Are we judgmental or self-righteous? Jesus cautions: “Judge not, lest you be judged” and “remove the plank from your eye before you take the sliver out of your brother’s eye.” 

There is a beautiful line that Pastor John Maclean gives in his sermon at the end of the movie: “A River Runs Through It.” He, his wife, and oldest son have worried about the reckless behavior of his youngest son Paul without being able “to dissuade” him to change. In one of his last sermon’s, after Paul’s violent death, he speaks from the heart to his congregation.  

Each one of us here today will, at one time in our lives, look upon a loved one in need and ask the same question: We are willing Lord, but what, if anything, is needed? For it is true that we can seldom help those closest to us. Either we don’t know what part of ourselves to give, or more often than not, that part we have to give… is not wanted. And so it is those we live with and should know who elude us… But we can still love them… We can love—completely—even without complete understanding….

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