Sunday Sermon : Christian love obliges fraternal correction

The liturgy of the twenty-third Sunday in ordinary time is based on the following readings: Ezekiel 33:7-9; Psalm 95; Romans 13:8-10; Matthew 18:15-20. The main theme of our liturgy is on the grave responsibility we have toward others; as far as fraternal correction is concerned. When we listen to the words of Prophet Ezekiel today, as he says that the Lord will hold us responsible for the sins of others, if we fail to warn them of their errors, we may be surprised! Perhaps we may feel that it would be unjust on our side, because every body is responsible for his or her acts. But that is what charity, by which we shall be judged, is all about! Our salvation will not depend on how good we are only, but in addition, we shall be asked if we did our best to turn others away from evil ways. The Gospel stresses the same theme of fraternal correction. In addition to this act of charity, we are required to disassociate ourselves from those who publicly insist on doing evil knowing it and refusing to be converted. Our society knows too well how harmful it can be, if wrong doers are left at large without any appropriate and timely intervention. Jesus tells us in the Gospel that fraternal correction is possible. He then ends on a different note, stressing the power of brotherly unity in prayer. Psalm 95, reminds us not to harden our hearts, giving us the example of the Israelites who in the past complained about the Lord’s ways in the desert, forgetting how good he had been to them during their previous hard history. St. Paul reminds us that we have no reason to complain to the Lord because he has been clear as far as our relationship with him is concerned. The Lord’s Law has been given to us, and we must observe it by loving God and our neighbour; neighbour being understood to include those who do not like us and all those in need of our intervention. The doctrinal point stressed in this liturgy is a proper understanding of love and sin. At the heart of the Pharisaic understanding of sin in the Old Testament Covenant was a literal and external compliance with the Law’s requirements. For them, sin was just a breaking of these formal requirements. In his teaching, Jesus rejected this distortion of the basic Deuteronomy commandments, and taught that the inner conversion of heart and mind to God and to neighbour were the essentials of the Law. That is why St Paul, explaining further Jesus’ teaching, says that love is the fulfilment of the Law and, conversely, that sin is to be understood not merely as external non-compliance of the law, but as an interior lack of love. It is therefore that kind of love which is the fulfilment of the law that must be understood as the true basis of a sound Christianity. And it is that Christian love that obliges brotherly correction. It is from this point of view that our liturgy makes it clear that it is our duty to feel concerned and responsible for other people’s actions. That is why Ezekiel tells us that if we do not warn others of their evil ways we will be held responsible for their spiritual death. The Gospel’s advice runs in the same vein. It is not difficult to see the connection between this fraternal correction and the Gospel precept of love for neighbour. A true love for neighbour and a true knowledge of the nature and the harm of sin leave us with no other option, other than being our ‘neighbour’s keeper’. From a pastoral point of view, the liturgy calls us to revise our understanding of sin. We tend to view sins only under their external aspect: non-compliance with a stipulated law. We can have a correctly informed conscience, see things as black or white, live accordingly, and yet not understand or appreciate why some things are black and other things are white. Such a view is both superficial and dangerous, because it makes our confessions a mere routine exercise, without any depth or purpose to mend our ways. I brief, this liturgy is warning us against the Pharisee complex; a legalistic mentality that measures and quantifies according to a known standard, but with little inner experience of the real harm and evil we are capable of. What is required of us is to love God and to search for him with all our mind and heart. It means a whole-hearted willingness to search for God wherever he may be found. We must do this from a humble point of view which fears that God may find us when we are unworthy. In order to do this soul searching properly, we need sincerity of heart. This is a necessary condition for finding the truth. It is the truth which will enable us to search in our lives for all that impede our inner openness to God, whether willingly, actively or passively! And when we find it, let us have the courage to call it sin, whether it is in our heart or in the heart of our neighbour. Ends