This is an ugly story, yet it very clearly expresses the message in this week’s Gospel- we are supposed to stand up for what is right. Commentary is after the Gospel.
Reading 1
Ez 33:7-9
Thus says the LORD:
You, son of man, I have appointed watchman for the house of Israel;
when you hear me say anything, you shall warn them for me.
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.
Reading II
Rom 13:8-10
Brothers and sisters:
Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another;
for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery;
you shall not kill; you shall not steal; you shall not covet, ”
and whatever other commandment there may be,
are summed up in this saying, namely,
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Love does no evil to the neighbor;
hence, love is the fulfillment of the law.
Gospel
Mt 18:15-20
Jesus said to his disciples:
“If your brother sins against you,
go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.
If he listens to you, you have won 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 a tax collector.
Amen, I say to you,
whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven,
and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Again, amen, I say to you,
if two of you agree on earth
about anything for which they are to pray,
it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father.
For where two or three are gathered together in my name,
there am I in the midst of them.”
Take Courage and Criticize
Both the 1st reading and the Gospel encourage us to criticize and discourage sin. In the first reading, Ezekiel is told that he is the "watchman for the house of Israel." But as we read in context of the entire Bible (as we always should) we can see in this week's readings that God is not just talking to Ezekiel. He is making the same demand of all of us Christians. In the Gospel reading, Jesus said, "if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault." And so, God wants all of us to take courage and reprimand others when they sin. Does that mean that every time someone makes a mistake, we should criticize them? No.
What's Worth Criticizing
This week's Gospel is telling us what sort of things are worth criticizing. Popular magazines suggest that we should criticize each others clothes (best dressed vs. worst dressed). The same popular opinion suggests that men be criticized for not making enough money, and that women should be criticized for their physical appearance. But in this week's readings, God is telling us what is truly worth criticizing- sin. For instance, in the 1st reading, God tells Ezekiel to turn (dissuade) the wicked from his way- in other words, tell him to stop sinning. In the Gospel, Jesus says that if "your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault." The 2nd reading says the same: "love does no evil (sin) to the neighbor. So Jesus gives us permission to point out sinful ways. It is sin that God is so concerned with that he wants us to point out sinfulness so as to discourage it.
In Romans 1:32 Paul is talking about sin when he says, "they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them." In that passage, he is saying that not only is it wrong to sin, but is very wrong to give approval to those who sin. And why doesn't God want us to sin? Because it separates us from loving union with God. We Catholics believe that if we persist in mortal (serious) sin without repenting until death, we permanently and irreversibly abandon God and choose an eternity in hell. God does not want that! He wants loving union between us! Just look at communion, confession, and marriage as examples of how God desires loving union!
The Way to Criticize
God even gives us practical means to criticize each other for our sins. Just look at 1st Corinthians 13:4-6 where Paul describes love:
- "Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, (love) is not pompous, it is not inflated,
- it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,
- it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth."
I once heard a story of a lady who visited St. Padre Pio in the confessional and he chased her out of the confessional. She returned later and asked Padre why he had chased her out. He said, "I saw your 2 sons in hell because of your permissive parenting!" Yes, not only do the things we do and say have the potential to send others to hell, but what we DON'T say can end in our loved ones suffering for eternity. We have opportunities everyday to discourage people from sin, and yet we pass up those chances because we care more about getting along with others temporarily than we do about the eternal destination of our loved ones. We must take courage discourage people from sinning!
The Only Way
Matthew 7:3-5 talks about removing the wooden beam out of your eye before trying to remove the splinter from your brother's eye. The point of this passage is not that we should never criticize. Rather, it ends with "remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother's eye." In other words it's okay to help your brother out by criticizing his sinfulness, but it is impossible if YOU don't stop sinning first. So it's impossible to tell our friends to be chaste when we are sleeping with our boyfriends/girlfriends. It's impossible to teach our children charity when we ourselves are not charitable. It is difficult or impossible to stop our friends from sinning when we are completely addicted to our own sins. We have to quit our sins.
Real Life
A little more than a month ago, my sister and I met a homeless man outside of church. He stopped me and asked me to pray for him. I was a little bit surprised because homeless people don't usually ask for prayers. "What do you want to pray for?" I asked. His name is Sean and he told me that his sister and his mom had died and their deaths had "messed up his mind". So we prayed and then my sister and I bought him lunch. We also prayed again for him and told him that God loved him. He wept for at least a few minutes after the prayer.
Last week, I had lunch with Sean and it was my first time seeing him since my sister and I bought him lunch. He is from Rocky Mount, NC and he is 36 years old. He likes to fish. Again, I saw him outside of Church. As soon as I sat down next to him outside of the church, he started crying and he told me that he had been "going through some things" and that he didn't know why he had to suffer so much. He also told me that he seriously considered suicide just 3 days before. I asked him if he wanted to have lunch, and he said yes. As soon as he sat in my car, he said, "I apologize for how I smell". I said nothing.
So we went to Chic-fil-a. Sean told me with tears in his eyes that last night, a man saw Sean sleeping on a bench and pulled out a gun and told Sean that the park was his. Sean said he was scared. Just a couple days prior, Sean was sleeping in the same park when I group of young people urinated in a cup and then poured it on Sean. He did nothing in response but leave the area. I noticed that Sean was skinnier since I last saw him and I asked him why. He told me that he saw a doctor who told him that he has sickle-cell anemia. I later realized that this incurable disease causes extreme fatigue, and pain particularly in the joints. Sean became sad after the diagnosis and ate less.
Sean showed me a wound he had on his hand. He told me that he received the wound while sleeping under a bridge. He told me that the sleeping under the bridge was terrible because there are animals like rats and snakes that live there and he was all wet from the rain. He said, "thats no way for a person to live."
The whole time that Sean told me these stories, he did so with much humility and he did not feel sorry for himself. Rather, he felt it was bad that a person should suffer the way he did. He told me that he didn't kill himself because that was the coward's way out.
Later that night, after I dropped Sean off downtown near the church, I had dinner with my Mom. I was thinking about Sean and felt terrible that I was eating this gourmet meal while he slept under a bridge and literally ate from the garbage can. I was distracted and was playing with my food. My mom asked where I had been earlier and I told her I was with Sean (she had heard about him before). Then she asked me where Sean sleeps. I pictured this nice man sleeping under a bridge and I started crying big time when I told my mom where Sean slept. Truly, I felt like my heart was broken thinking about Sean. We are talking about someone I know who sleeps under a bridge! Sean is a nice guy. He doesn't deserve that!
I felt like sharing this story because I realized that these homeless people I see on the streets have names. They are people. They need help. Sean is on a waiting list to receive housing and if you want to help him out, please contact me. People with sickle cell anemia have a life expectancy of 42 years and Sean is 36.
Sean King
God loves us!
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9
R. (8) If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;
let us acclaim the rock of our salvation.
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us joyfully sing psalms to him.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us bow down in worship;
let us kneel before the LORD who made us.
For he is our God,
and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
“Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
they tested me though they had seen my works.”
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
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