A Reflection on the Poor and Matthew 20:1-16

FOUR THINGS THE POOR ARE NOT

In the wake of the parable everybody loves to hate, (The Laborers in the Vineyard, remember?) there were a lot of discussions this week about the vineyard owner. Was he just? It depends, I guess, on how you define justice. Distributive justice asserts that the community has an obligation to provide the basic necessities of life to all who need them, unless there is an absolute scarcity of resources. If there is an artificial scarcity because too few have too much at the expense of those who have too little to survive and thrive, then this is a violation of justice. In a country built on meritocracy, this theory of distributive justice is not only annoying, it hits at the heart of what we have been conditioned to believe.

For most of us, the questions are real and difficult: Does someone have a right to a share in the wealth of this country simply because he or she lives in it? Who, exactly, owns the earth or its water or oil? Well, the parables of Jesus constantly walk around the issue of justice, often in ways that startle, confuse or anger us. Jesus had quite a bit to say about individual selfishness, and about political and social structures in which the rich prey on the poor. For Jesus, justice was not necessarily about giving people what they deserve, but what they need. One way to distance ourselves from the changes we ought to make is to distance ourselves from those who deserve better, just because they are humans like us. What follows are reflections that force us to look at the poor more honestly:

The poor are not always needing only charity, but are needing justice. Charity is a great first step. It bridges the gap between what is and might be. It rescues people from hunger, homelessness and despair. Justice, however, insists on fidelity to relationships, and those relationships are with all of our fellow human beings, not just those closest to us. Justice, unlike charity, is not something we do out of the kindness of our hearts; it is something we do because we are obliged to respect the dignity of all human persons and to work to change unjust political, social or economic structures which keep the poor in poverty.

The poor are not always very visible

We must go out of our way to find those who need assistance. Often, those who lack the basic necessities of life are so ashamed of their condition that they try to look like everyone else. For every person who begs outside of a grocery store, there are perhaps ten times that number who sleep in their cars, or send their children off to school without breakfast, or who go without medical attention or prescription drugs, or a warm coat or shoes that actually fit. The vast majority of the poor suffer and worry alone.

Helping the poor is not always rewarding: When you read Charles Dickens, you sometime might get the impression that the poor are universally noble, so it comes a a shock to the system to discover that reality is not like novels.. Sometimes people who live in poverty are angry. Sometimes they have just given up. Sometimes they are dishonest and take advantage of the system. But most are not like that. Often we use the few bad examples as an excuse to do nothing. Bishop Kenneth Untener put it this way "When you help the poor you always receive more than you give--but it may not seem that way at the time."

The poor are not different from us: They laugh and cry, get angry and rejoice, worry and love, just we do. They care for their families just as much as we do. The following is a poem written by a woman living in poverty with her children:

My Name is not “ Those People”

I am a loving woman, a mother in pain, giving birth to the future

where my babies have the same chance to thrive as anyone.

My name is not “Inadequate.”

I did not make my husband leave us—he chose to,

And chooses not to pay child support.

Truth is though, there isn’t a job base for all

Fathers to support their families.

While society turns its head, my children pay the price.

My name is not “Lazy, Dependent Welfare Mother.”

If the unwaged work of parenting, homemaking and community

building was factored into the gross national product, my work

would have untold value. And I wonder why my middle-class sisters

whose husbands support them to raise their children are

glorified—and they don’t get called lazy and dependent.

My name is not “ Ignorant, Dumb, or Uneducated.”

I live with an income of $621 with $169 in food stamps.

Rent is $585. That leaves $36 a month to live on. I am such a genius

At surviving that I could balance the state budget in an hour.

My name is not “Lay Down and Die Quietly.”

My love is powerful and my urge to keep my children alive

will never stop. All children need homes and people who love them.

They need safety and the chance to be the people

they were born to be.

The wind will stop before I let my children become a statistic.

Before you give in to the urge to blame me,

the blame that lets us go blind and unknowing

into the isolation that disconnects us, take another look.

Don’t go away.

For I am not the problem, but the solution.

And my name is not “Those People.”

--Julia Dinsmore

“Unless you love, the poor will not forgive you for the bread they take from you.”... St Vincent de Paul

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time, September 17, 2023

Forgiveness is not optional

Matthew 18:21–35

Then Peter approaching asked him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?”

Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.

That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt. At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’ Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan.

When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount. He seized him and started to choke him, demanding, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ But he refused. Instead, he had him put in prison until he paid back the debt.

Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole affair. His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?’ Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt.

So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart.”

Music Meditations

• “Kyrie Eleison” (Chris Tomlin) [YouTube]
• “Loving and Forgiving” (Scott Soper) [YouTube]
• “Hosea” (Gregory Norbet; sung by John Michael Talbot) [YouTube]
• “The Lord’s Prayer” (sung by Andrea Bocelli, feat. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir) [YouTube]

Opening Prayer

Lord, teach me openness of heart to those who need my understanding and forgiveness. Help me to extend forgiveness that is genuine and complete, not conditional or grudging. I know this is so very hard, Lord, and I will need your guidance and understanding. Help me to realize when I need forgiveness of you or others I my life, and grant me the humility to admit when I have been wrong.

Companions for the Journey

Adapted from John Boll, O.P. in “First Impressions,” 2005, and William Bausch in 60 More Seasonal Homilies:

I think today’s readings stir up some questions in all of us: Jesus’ answer seems naïve and maybe even dangerous. He seemed to lack any common sense or even to have forgotten the apparent likelihood that giving lots and lots of pardons would not even in the tiniest way get anyone to stop doing bad things. And yet, I suspect Jesus was not all that naïve—I think we need to look at some assumptions we make about forgiveness, so here are five things forgiveness is NOT:

1. Forgiveness is not ignoring evil and forgetting wrongs that have been committed by individuals, governments, churches—even ours. In some places—the Balkans, Northern Ireland, the Middle East—to forgive my enemy is to betray my ancestors; to forgive is to make a mockery of their sacrifices; to forgive is to condone wrongs against justice and decency. Elie Weisel, in speaking of the Holocaust said: “We must forgive, but we must never forget.”
2. Forgiveness is not the enabling of bad or destructive behavior. We hear all the time of people who stay in abusive relationships out of a mistaken sense of their obligation to “turn the other cheek”. Let me be very clear: I don’t think we are called to be passive victims of abusive and destructive behavior. Rather, I think what we are actually empowered to do is to invoke civil law to extricate ourselves and those for whom we are responsible from a dangerous situation, and then we invoke divine law or the grace of God to help us heal and get rid of our anger so we can move on with a productive and happy life. We hear also of co-dependents in addictive situations—alcohol or drugs—who forgive and forgive, and their loved one does not get better, he or she gets worse. So the reality is that a simplistic ”forgive and forget” is not what is called for here. Another way of putting it is: that we must forgive the sin, but remember the crime.
3. Forgiveness is not a demonstration of my wonderfulness. This is forgiveness with a hook, one-up forgiveness, and it says, in effect: “I have weighed, judged you and your behavior and found you sorely lacking in qualities that are worthy of my respect. I have these qualities at this point in time, but you do not. I humbly recognize my superior moral strength and your weakness, my consistent moral behavior and your lack of morality. I forgive you your trespasses. You, of course, will find some suitable way to be grateful from this day forward.”
   This is not forgiveness. This is manipulation.
4. Forgiveness is not easy—sometimes it might even be impossible. I don’t know how a rape victim forgives her rapist. I don’t know how the victim of sexual abuse as a child ever learns to get over it. I don’t know how someone whose parents were gassed in Auschwitz learns to forgive the Nazis who were the instrument of their deaths; I don’t know how the widow in Northern Ireland or New York gets past the anger and resentment. I don’t know how a parent learns to forgive someone who has damaged or murdered his or her child. In fact, if I am sure of anything at all, it is that God understands our sorrows and our difficulties with resentment, anger—understands, maybe even, our inability to let go and forgive someone. At least, I sincerely hope so. Yes, forgiveness is not easy—in fact, it is impossible, without God’s help.
5. Forgiveness is not optional—This passage from Matthew tells us that we should be merciful primarily because each of us has received mercy. We are to forgive, not because someone deserves our forgiveness, but because we have been forgiven. When, at the end of the Our Father, we pray, “forgive us our trespasses as we Forgive those who trespass against us,” we are asking God to let the experience of being forgiven so transform our hearts that we may likewise forgive others. It would be a foolish person who would pray the other way around, asking God to forgive us only in the puny measure we are able to forgive others. Our life with God is a gift, from beginning to end. Whenever we asked for forgiveness from God, we received it. The Eucharist is our act of thanksgiving for what we realize again we have received from the hands of a gracious God. A sign that we really believe we have been forgiven free of charge, is to give similar forgiveness to others, again and again.

Further reading:

• Reflection on Matthew 18:21-35 from “Living Space” >>

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

Lord,…How often must I forgive?

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

• Have I ever had a falling out with a friend who hurt me? How did I deal with it?
• “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven”?
  How does this phrase refer to my personal obligation to forgive?
  Does it mean that I will, in one way or another, take my grudges and my lack of forgiveness into the kingdom of God here on earth, which clearly has no place for them?
  Does it mean I will take my grudges and my lack of forgiveness with me into the next life?
• Do I sometimes identify myself by a wound I have suffered or by an abuse I have endured? (I am a _______ survivor.)
  Why do I do this?
  How does it keep my notion of victimhood alive?
• How hard is it for me to forgive someone who has really hurt someone I love?
• How have past hurts affected my attitude about trusting others?
• How grudgingly do I extend forgiveness to others?
• Do I demand forgiveness of another, while withholding my forgiveness of someone?
• How is forgiveness related to mercy?
• From theologian Romano Guardino:
  Justice is the enemy of love. Do I agree or disagree?
• How does forgiveness exist while I am still seeking punishment?
  Can it?
• Do I have trouble asking for or receiving forgiveness?
  Why is that?
• How do I reconcile the reality that true forgiveness has no end—that we are called to forgive over and over—with the need for self-preservation?
• How do I forgive a wrong that has been done to me while preserving my own safety and sanity?
  At what point must I say “no more”?
• How is forgiveness of another a type of healing for me?
  Do I see my own lack of forgiveness as shackles that bind me to the past or to another that I wish to be free from?
• From Jude Siciliano. O.P.:
  What effect has forgiveness had on my own life?
  What person or institution am I called to forgive?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions

Adapted from “First Impressions,” a service of the Southern Dominican Province:

In today’s gospel passage Peter puts a question about forgiveness to Jesus. Peter seems to think he has the right answer. But Jesus answers the question in a way that must have surprised Peter and, as if to back up his response, Jesus tells a parable. But this parable isn’t like one of those passages we frequently mention, easily accessible for reflection. It is a rough-sounding parable. On first hearing we feel edgy because God doesn’t come off sounding like anyone we’d like to get close to or get to know. After ending the parable about the unforgiving debtor’s being handed over to the torturers, “until he should pay back the whole debt,” Jesus adds, “So shall my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives your brother/sister from your heart.” See what I mean? Sounds like quite a change from the loving compassionate God Jesus has been manifesting in his speech and actions. As a preacher I also suspect that closing line is going to reinforce the image of the punishing and demanding God some of us still carry around within us, even if it is deep down at an unconscious level. What’s a preacher to do with all the baggage this parable is carrying?

How did you respond emotionally as well as intellectually to this parable? What does it say about what God demands of us, even when it seems hard?

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship:

Is true forgiveness hard? Yes, but it is also necessary for our emotional and spiritual health. Think of someone who has hurt you in some way, and try to begin the process of forgiveness. Father Patrick Brennan in his book: The Way of Forgiveness, says that we stay forever frozen in the past if we do not begin somewhere. He suggests that we start by naming the pain. Perhaps you could use a journal to articulate those feelings of anger, hurt, revenge, depression. Stay with this exercise until you can accurately state what happened and how you felt. Hard as it is, this is the first step in moving forward.

After doing this, read Luke 22:39–46. What pain do you think Jesus was going through at this time? How did his disciples hurt him? Name some other times when Jesus was hurt by those around him. How do you think he felt? Do you think he forgave them?

The next thing to do is to DECIDE to forgive. You may revisit this decision many times, praying for the strength, the courage and the generosity of spirit forgiveness requires. Note: the decision to forgive must not necessarily be conveyed to the person who hurt you, and in any event may not be communicated in a way that merely reinforces your sense of being wronged, or demonstrates any sort of moral superiority.

Your next step might be to pray for the one(s) who have offended you.

These steps may not always follow the pattern outlined. Like any emotional process, we may revisit certain stages until we have mastered them. The key to making this work rests in prayer and loving kindness--the sort Jesus modeled for us.

And finally, reflect on what you have learned from your painful experience, thanking God for the wisdom you have gained.

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action:

We cannot talk of forgiveness without discussing prison and our prison system, including capital punishment. First, we need to think about why we have prisons in the first place. They seem to have several purposes: retribution, incapacitation, deterrence and rehabilitation. A majority of people consider retribution the primary purpose of prisons. Depriving criminals of their freedom is a way of making them pay their debt to society by punishing them for their crimes. And these prisons should not be country clubs; they should be uncomfortable and maybe even harsh. These criminals are being PUNISHED! They hurt others; we need to hurt them. The whole issue of the death penalty is usually part of the discussion about retribution.

Incapacitation removes these people from society so they will not hurt others. The type of prison accommodations for these offenders might be less harsh if those in charge favored removal from society over punishment.

Deterrence means the prevention of future crimes by those see what happens to those who have done the same thing. Fear of incarceration and punishment is thought to be a motive in keeping others from criminal acts. There have been studies which demonstrate the effectiveness or the ineffectiveness of this theory.

Rehabilitation, for some, is the major object of incarceration. Changing criminals in law-abiding citizens requires a change of heart and mind, and it is a long and arduous process, especially if childhood abuse or addiction are part of the picture It is obvious that providing counseling education. Vocational training, spiritual accompaniment, connections to loved ones being strengthened, an ongoing support system after release from prison.

These four major purposes have not been stressed equally, and in some cases are in direct opposition to one another. As a result prions differ in their facilities, staff and operations. Local public opinion can be widely divergent and often acrimonious in determining prison policies in various areas of our country.

In reading this passage from Matthew, we have to ask ourselves what gospel principles should inform our attitudes on prisons and punishment. What do I think is the purpose of incarceration? How do we deal with the victims and their loved ones? How do I feel about the morality of capital punishment? Do I have a responsibility to address these issues as a Christian? In the spirit of Jesus, am I called to do anything for prisoners, such as writing to death row inmates, or volunteering to visit or work with prisoners in any way? The very least I can do is write someone in prison, especially someone on death row. (WriteAprisoner.com …)

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Examen:

From “Sacred Space” a service of the Irish Jesuits:

I think of those who have caused me hurt and how I have reacted. I pray for them and, even if I can’t wish them well now, I pray that one day I might…

Poetic Reflection:

Is this like God’s forgiveness? How can we mirror it?

“To My Mother”

I was your rebellious son,
do you remember? Sometimes
I wonder if you do remember,
so complete has your forgiveness been.

So complete has your forgiveness been
I wonder sometimes if it did not
precede my wrong, and I erred,
safe found, within your love,

prepared ahead of me, the way home,
or my bed at night, so that almost
I should forgive you, who perhaps
saw the worst that I might do,

and forgave me before I could act,
causing me to smile now, looking back,
to see how paltry was my worst,
compared to your forgiveness of it

already given. And this, then,
is the vision of that Heaven of which
we have heard, where those who love
each other have forgiven each other,

where, for that, the leaves are green
the light a music in the air,
and all is unentangled,
and all is undismayed.

—by Wendell Berry (a former Stanford Stegner Fellow) from Entries

Closing Prayer

Adapted from “A Psalm for Pardon” from Prayers for a Planetary Pilgrim by Father Edward Hays:

Grant me, O gracious One,
Your great gift of pardon.

I have searched for it
In every pocket and hiding place
........
I know it is here,
Buried beneath my pain
in a back corner of my heart;
But for now it is lost.

I know that to forgive is divine, but I am not a deity,
And I fear that I will become a demon
Who, by failing to forgive
Will spread the kingdom of darkness.
Remind me ten times and more
Of all that you have forgiven me—
Without even waiting for my sorrow,
The very instant that I slipped
Make me your messenger of your good news I cannot now speak
Give to me the healing words of forgiveness. Amen.

Reflection on Matthew 18:21-35 from “Living Space”

LAST SUNDAY’S GOSPEL, from the same chapter as today’s, was about fraternal correction and about the possible necessity to expel a member from the Christian community. We are talking about someone who persists in behaving in a way which is totally at variance with the values of a community whose life vision is based on the Gospel. Such expulsion may be necessary, if the community is to be a credible witness to the Gospel and to be seen as the visible Body of Christ. But such an expulsion need not be permanent, in fact, it is hoped that it will not be. At the first sign of repentance, the offender is to be welcomed back and helped to re-integrate into the community.

So, today’s Gospel is about forgiveness. Peter, who is beginning to learn his Master’s ways, asks how many times he should forgive. Seven times? It sounds pretty generous. But it is not generous enough for Jesus: “Not seven times, Simon, but 77 times,” he says, that is, indefinitely.

A story of two servants

And, to make his point, he goes on to speak of a king and his two servants who owe very differing sums of money. One owes a huge amount to the king and, by rights, should be thrown into a debtor’s prison, until he has paid off his debt – something he was unlikely to be able to do. After passionate entreaties, his debt is wiped out by the king. Then the same servant goes after a fellow-servant who owes him what is relatively a paltry sum. Because this second servant cannot pay up at once, he is thrown into the debtor’s prison. When the king hears about it he throws the first servant to the torturers until he has paid off the debt. The message is perfectly clear: “And that is how my Father will deal with you unless you each forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

God forgives us without limit. If we are to be like him – and that is our calling in life – we must do the same. And it is not just a piece of advice. Our very salvation depends on it.

Vengeance is mine

What Jesus is condemning is made clear in today’s First Reading from the Book of Ecclesiasticus: “Resentment and anger are foul things, and both are found with the sinner…” “He who exacts vengeance will experience the vengeance of the Lord…

“Forgive your neighbour the hurt he does you, and when you pray, your sins will be forgiven…

And note that the writer says that when we forgive a brother or sister, it is MY sin, not THEIR which is forgiven by God.

“If a man nurses anger against another, can he then demand compassion from the Lord?  Showing no pity for a man like himself, can he then plead for his own sins?…

“Mere creature of flesh, he cherishes resentment; who will forgive him his sins?…

“Remember the last things, and stop hating…”

How forgive?

If hate and resentment get us nowhere, what are we to say about forgiveness? Is it just a matter of turning a blind eye to what people do to us or to others? Are we to say, “Oh, never mind! Forget about it!” Can we turn a blind eye to murder, violence, physical abuse, gross dishonesty and corruption, sexual abuse and infidelity…? Not according to last Sunday’s Gospel: If a person remains unrepentant of the harm he/she has done, then “treat him like a pagan or a tax collector”. In other words, boot him/her out of the community.

In the Gospel, forgiveness always includes reconciliation and personal healing. It also includes unconditional love (agape, ‘agaph), the love of the God who makes his sun and rain to fall on good and bad alike. Forgiveness – in the Gospel, as with God — must include not just overlooking the wrong done but in bringing back the wrongdoer. The parables of the good shepherd and his lost sheep, the woman and her lost coin, the loving father and his lost son tell us how God acts – and how we, too, should act.

It is important to note at this point that our faith is not simply a question of good and bad actions but of relationships. Forgiveness is not about undoing evil actions (what is done is done and cannot be undone) but of restoring broken relationships, about healing and reconciliation.

A sacrament for reconciliation

So we speak now, not of the ‘Sacrament of Confession’ or the ‘Sacrament of Penance’ but of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. This sacrament is not, as many seem to believe, a sacrament of wiping out our past acts as if they no longer existed. Rather, it is a matter of turning back to, of restoring our relationship with God and also with all those who have been touched (and may still be hurting) from our sins, our failures to love.

And, just as we expect God to accept us back into his loving arms again and again without limit, so he expects us to be ready to do the same for others.

Of course, it can be a long process. Like God, like the father in the parable, we often have to wait patiently, lovingly, hopefully for the turning point of someone who has hurt us.

As the Gospel earlier this week reminded us, those who have hurt us, our “enemies”, most need our prayers, they need God’s blessings to soften their hearts. And, when it happens, we need to be ready to receive back our brother or sister just we expect God to receive us back when we say ‘Sorry’ to him.

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, September 10, 2023

Living together in Christ

Matthew 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.”

Music Meditations

• “We Are One Body” (John Michael Talbot) [YouTube]
• “The Servant Song” (sung by Maranatha! Vocal Band) [YouTube]
• “O God Beyond All Praising” (Melody by Gustav Holst, sung by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir) [YouTube]

Opening Prayer

Lord, help me to deal with those with whom I do not agree about some things I really feel are wrong. Help me to see that excluding others, unless they are a threat to my physical or emotional safety, is counter to your spirit. Teach me the way of forgiveness and reconciliation, and give me courage to speak up when I must.

Companions for the Journey

From “First Impressions” by Father Jude Siciliano, O.P.:

We are in a section of Matthew’s gospel in which Jesus is doing community building. So, today’s passage must be seen in the light of its larger context. (Nothing new here for preachers since we are always checking out the context of a scriptural passage.) Ever since chapter 14, Jesus has been instructing his disciples. In chapter 18, his teaching emphasizes and focuses on the community of believers, the church.

At the time Matthew wrote, the church was on its own, no longer a part of the Jewish community and so no longer observing the daily norms and customs of that religious tradition. The community needed guidelines for its life together and in chapter 18 Matthew emphasizes what the important ones are. Faith in Jesus and his teachings are the basis for this new community; believers will have to live in a way that reflects their founder. Since Jesus revealed a forgiving and compassionate God, the life of the community must do the same, if they are to witness to Jesus resurrected and living in their midst. Forgiveness must be the hallmark of the church. (Next week Peter will ask, “...how often must I forgive?” Jesus’ response—in effect, a limitless number of times.)

When someone offends us, we can say, “It’s a big world, I’ll just go my own way and ignore him or her.” The early church was a very small community surrounded by non-believers. Members of the assemblies were easily recognizable and so was how they behaved towards one another. It’s something like a family in a small town, the neighbors quickly learn when there is conflict among family members. So too in the tiny early church; people within and outside the community would know of divisions among the believers. Conflicting members could not go their own way, the whole community would know and suffer the consequences of their behavior. The injuries had to be dealt with through forgiveness and, if it that were done, all would benefit. Outsiders would also notice the community’s behavior and be drawn to it. Today our larger communities might make it possible for conflict to continue, or be ignored, without too much fuss. But an unseen wound is a wound nevertheless and the unity and life of the believers are affected by offenses done by members against one another.

The teaching in today’s gospel sets out a rather elaborate and specific process for how forgiveness and reconciliation are to happen. At first just two people are involved, “If your brother [or sisters] sins against you go and tell....” Notice that the one sinned against must attempt a personal exchange with the offending party. At this stage of the process the privacy of the two is being respected. The directions don’t include explicit formulas or directions on how the conversation is to go. It is hoped the parties can converse reasonably and members can be trusted to know how to behave and what to say. But life doesn’t always work out according to ideals.

If the first step fails, the conversation is to include just one or two more people. We might jump ahead at this point to the closing verse of today’s passage. “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them.” We most commonly apply this passage to two or more believers praying together—Jesus will be in their midst. True enough. But back to the context. The verse is in the setting of reconciliation in the community, when “two or three” come together to settle an offense against a member. When a believing community works to settle disputes, Christ is in our midst working to achieve the same goal. That is what makes this teaching more than an “ideal” and keeps it from being dismissed as not practical in “the real world.”

Or, put it another way. Where shall we find the true presence of Christ? In today’s example, he is in our midst when we work together to right wrongs. Forgiveness and justice should characterize the community; if it does, others will recognize something unique about the church and might even recognize Christ alive and active in our midst doing what isn’t “do-able” without him. We believe he is truly with us at this Eucharistic celebration. We reflect on divisions in our local and universal church, as well as the between churches, resulting from offenses and misunderstandings done over the centuries. We invite Christ to be with us as we consciously and deliberately set about righting both large and small wrongs.

Jesus’ instructions continue. If the offender is hardened and refuses to acknowledge the wrong the process moves to another level. “If he/she refuses to listen to them, tell the church.” Here Jesus gives the whole community the power to “bind and loosen”; the power to welcome back a repentant member, but also to discipline an unrepentant offender. The latter is an unfortunate but, it seems, necessary move. Actually, it isn’t so much that the church excludes someone from the community, but that the person guilty of sin against a member has turned his/her back on the community. Since they are obstinate in their sin, they have sentenced themselves to exclusion. If they won’t mend the breach they have caused, the community is forced to state the obvious. The offender must be treated as “a Gentile or a tax collector”—a catch-all phrase used at that time by the Jewish community to mean anyone considered unclean and outside the faith. But remember that Jesus welcomed Gentiles and tax collectors into his company and offered them God’s forgiveness and acceptance. I think that leaves his comment ambiguous.

We sense from this passage and all of chapter 18, that the unity and faithful adherence to Jesus’ teachings are important values for Matthew. Christians are not to live as individuals, but as members of a witnessing and supportive community. When a member has been “sinned” against, others are there for support and to see that rights are wronged.

But what’s the spirit of today’s gospel? Is Jesus just talking about individual offenses and sins? Suppose a race is sinned against, what are we to do? Suppose the poor on the other side of town are being ignored, or deprived of their needs and rights? Suppose a group in our parish is treated as second class members just because they are new arrivals? Suppose women’s voices are ignored? Or the elderly patronized? Suppose young people never hear their lives or issues mentioned in the preaching and public worship? Well...you get the idea.

Further reading:

• Introduction to Matthew Chapter 18 >>
• Matthew chapter 17, >> [usccb.org] much of which has been used for another Sunday or was repeated in another gospel writer

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am in the midst of them.

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

• When I experience family conflict, how do I resolve it?
  When my friends and I are in conflict, how do I resolve it?
  When some members of my church community and I are in conflict, how do I resolve it?
  In my mind, are any of these “conflicts” truly only solved when people come around to my point of view?
• Do we sometimes forget that to belong to the Church is to belong to a community of brothers and sisters in Christ? Why is this so?
• No one says reconciliation is easy, especially when groups and individuals in the community have been at loggerheads for a long time. If we try to be less confrontational and more guided in prayer, Jesus promises to be with us to bring about reconciliation. What divisions exist in my parish community?
  How can I be an instrument to help a healing process?
• Do we believe that our relationship to Christ depends intimately on how we relate to each other?
  To what extent do we believe that our behavior as individuals reflects on the overall witness that we as a community are called to give?
• Do I feel that as a community we are responsible for each other’s well-being?
  What are some of the difficulties in achieving this?
• Is there a difference between pointing out and working to correct serious moral failures and being the “correctness police” monitoring lapses in manners, irritating habits, or even liturgical practices?
• Have I ever set myself up as the “correctness police” constantly pointing out the mistakes and failures of others?
  Are there people in my family or church community who do so?
• Do I ever shirk my responsibility to speak up when I know something is morally wrong?
• When I confront a wrong or injustice do I approach the other in anger or in charity?
• What are the effects of living in a culture that promotes gossip, scandal, and contemptuous dismissal of those with whom we do not agree?
  What are the effects of living in a culture that relies on legal arguments or intellectual evaluations—that focuses on winning rather than on relationship?
• How difficult is to become involved in another’s life when we see them engage in cruel or self-destructive behaviors?
  Why, however, are some people all too ready to tell people what is the right way to do things or how to behave?
  How do we find the middle ground?
• What is the role of personal prayer in dealing with problematic people?
• Have I ever been part of a church community or another group that developed divisions over some issue or another?
  How did it get resolved?
  To what extent have I sought consensus, or did I work to make sure that my opinion carried the day?
• What is the role of punishment in this passage?
  What is the role of reconciliation?
• How do I feel about Excommunication?
  What is the possible danger of putting someone out of the community who does not agree with me? (think self-righteousness, vindictiveness, the cruelty of isolation, for example)
• Which of the 4-part instruction on dealing with another’s behavior toward me did I have a problem with?
  What are some of the inherent dangers involved in taking others along to reprimand someone?
• What is the value of having others to pray with?
• In the letter of St Paul to the Romans in today’s reading he writes: “Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another, for the one who loves one another has fulfilled the law.” How does this apply to today’s gospel?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions

Adapted from “Sacred Space”, a service of the Irish Jesuits.

Let us do an examination of conscience on love today.
Love is patient. Am I?
Love is kind. Am I?
Love is not boastful. Am I?
Love is not resentful. Am I?
Love does not harbor grudges. Do I?
Love does not judge. Do I?
Love does not rejoice in what is wrong. How do I understand this? Live it?
Love rejoices in the truth. Do I?
Love rejoices in the good fortune of others? Do I?

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action:

From First Impressions, a Service of the Southern Dominican Province:

We sense from this passage and all of chapter 18, that the unity and faithful adherence to Jesus’ teachings are important values for Matthew. Christians are not to live as individuals, but as members of a witnessing and supportive community. When a member has been “sinned” against, others are there for support and to see that rights are wronged.

But what’s the spirit of today’s gospel? Is Jesus just talking about individual offenses and sins? Suppose a race is sinned against, what are we to do? Suppose the poor on the other side of town are being ignored or deprived of their needs and rights? Suppose a group in our parish is treated as second class members just because they are new arrivals? Suppose women’s voices are ignored? Or, the elderly patronized? Suppose young people never hear their lives or issues mentioned in the preaching and public worship? What can you do about it? And when will you start?

Poetic Reflection:

Have you ever met a person in your church who could be described the way Mary Oliver describes someone she knows in the following excerpt from a poem in her collection Thirst?

“On thy Wondrous Works I Will Meditate”

7.
I know a man of such
mildness and kindness, it is trying to
change my life. He does not
preach, teach, but simply is. It is
astonishing, for he is Christ’s ambassador
truly, by rule and act. But, more,

he is kind with the sort of kindness that shines
out, but is resolute, not fooled. He has
eaten the dark hours and could also, I think,
soldier for God, riding out
under the storm clouds, against the world’s pride and unkindness
with both unassailable sweetness and consoling word.

Closing Prayer

Taken from The Eucharistic Prayer II for Masses of Reconciliation; quoted on A Poster for Peace in Memory of September 11, 2001, Liturgy Training Publications

Your Spirit changes our hearts:
enemies begin to speak to one another,
those who were estranged join hands in friendship,
and nations seek the way of peace together.
Your Spirit is at work
when understanding puts an end to strife,
when hatred is quenched by mercy,
and vengeance gives way to forgiveness.

Introduction to Matthew Chapter 18

See this passage on USCCB website >>

* [18:1–35] This discourse of the fourth book of the gospel is often called the “church order” discourse, but it lacks most of the considerations usually connected with church order, such as various offices in the church and the duties of each, and deals principally with the relations that must obtain among the members of the church. Beginning with the warning that greatness in the kingdom of heaven is measured not by rank or power but by childlikeness (Mt 18:1–5), it deals with the care that the disciples must take not to cause the little ones to sin or to neglect them if they stray from the community (Mt 18:6–14), the correction of members who sin (Mt 18:15–18), the efficacy of the prayer of the disciples because of the presence of Jesus (Mt 18:19–20), and the forgiveness that must be repeatedly extended to sinful members who repent (Mt 18:21–35).

Chapter 18: 1-14:

The Greatest in the Kingdom.

1a At that time the disciples* approached Jesus and said, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

2He called a child over, placed it in their midst,

3b and said, “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children,* you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

4c Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

5* And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.

Temptations to Sin.

6d “Whoever causes one of these little ones* who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.

7* Woe to the world because of things that cause sin! Such things must come, but woe to the one through whom they come!

8e If your hand or foot causes you to sin,* cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter into life maimed or crippled than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into eternal fire.

9And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into fiery Gehenna.

The Parable of the Lost Sheep.*

10f “See that you do not despise one of these little ones,* for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father. [

11]g *

12What is your opinion? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray?

13And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray.

14In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.

NOTES: FROM USCCB:

* [18:1] The initiative is taken not by Jesus as in the Marcan parallel (Mk 9:33–34) but by the disciples. Kingdom of heaven: this may mean the kingdom in its fullness, i.e., after the parousia and the final judgment. But what follows about causes of sin, church discipline, and forgiveness, all dealing with the present age, suggests that the question has to do with rank also in the church, where the kingdom is manifested here and now, although only partially and by anticipation; see notes on Mt 3:2; 4:17.

* [18:3] Become like children: the child is held up as a model for the disciples not because of any supposed innocence of children but because of their complete dependence on, and trust in, their parents. So must the disciples be, in respect to God.

* [18:5] Cf. Mt 10:40.

* [18:6] One of these little ones: the thought passes from the child of Mt 18:2–4 to the disciples, little ones because of their becoming like children. It is difficult to know whether this is a designation of all who are disciples or of those who are insignificant in contrast to others, e.g., the leaders of the community. Since apart from this chapter the designation little ones occurs in Matthew only in Mt 10:42 where it means disciples as such, that is its more likely meaning here. Who believe in me: since discipleship is impossible without at least some degree of faith, this further specification seems superfluous. However, it serves to indicate that the warning against causing a little oneto sin is principally directed against whatever would lead such a one to a weakening or loss of faith. The Greek verb skandalizein, here translated causes…to sin, means literally “causes to stumble”; what the stumbling is depends on the context. It is used of falling away from faith in Mt 13:21. According to the better reading of Mk 9:42, in me is a Matthean addition to the Marcan source. It would be better…depths of the sea: cf. Mk 9:42.

* [18:7] This is a Q saying; cf. Lk 17:1. The inevitability of things that cause sin (literally, “scandals”) does not take away the responsibility of the one through whom they come.

* [18:8-9] These verses are a doublet of Mt 5:29–30. In that context they have to do with causes of sexual sin. As in the Marcan source from which they have been drawn (Mk 9:42–48), they differ from the first warning about scandal, which deals with causing another person to sin, for they concern what causes oneself to sin and they do not seem to be related to another’s loss of faith, as the first warning is. It is difficult to know how Matthew understood the logical connection between these verses and Mt 18:6–7.

* [18:10–14] The first and last verses are peculiar to Matthew. The parable itself comes from Q; see Lk 15:3–7. In Luke it serves as justification for Jesus’ table-companionship with sinners; here, it is an exhortation for the disciples to seek out fellow disciples who have gone astray. Not only must no one cause a fellow disciple to sin, but those who have strayed must be sought out and, if possible, brought back to the community. The joy of the shepherd on finding the sheep, though not absent in Mt 18:13 is more emphasized in Luke. By his addition of Mt 18:10, 14 Matthew has drawn out explicitly the application of the parable to the care of the little ones.

* [18:10] Their angels in heaven…my heavenly Father: for the Jewish belief in angels as guardians of nations and individuals, see Dn 10:13, 20–21; Tb 5:4–7; 1QH 5:20–22; as intercessors who present the prayers of human beings to God, see Tb 13:12, 15. The high worth of the little ones is indicated by their being represented before God by these heavenly beings.

* [18:11] Some manuscripts add, “For the Son of Man has come to save what was lost”; cf. Mt 9:13. This is practically identical with Lk 19:10 and is probably a copyist’s addition from that source.