To read the texts click on the texts: Ezek 33:7-9; Rom13:8-10; Mt 18:15-20
As a child in school I leant a poem which had
great rhyme and meter and which when recited aloud with actions that
accompanied it sounded good to the ear. It went like:
I
had a little tea party
This
afternoon at three
It
was very small
Three
guests in all
Just
I, myself and me.
Myself ate up all the sandwiches
While
I drank up the tea
It was also "I" who ate the pie
And
passed the cakes to me.
It was only many years later that
I realized that it was one of the most selfish poems that one could recite. The
focus in the poem was on one individual and one individual alone; I, myself and
Me. This is surely not the Christian way of proceeding. In Christianity we are
individuals but in and within a community.
In the Bible we come across
certain passages that are as relevant and practical in our lives today as they
were thousands of years ao when they were first written. Today’s readings are
good examples of such passages. Together they reminds us that as faithful
Christians it is our responsibility to reach out to the errant members of the
community and bring them back into the fold. Christianity, is both an
individual and communitarian religion and every one of us are our brother’s and
sister’s keepers. They even go on to recommend practical steps on how to go
about doing this. They invite us to review our ‘I-don’t-care’ attitude toward
fallen and lax members of the Church, reminding us that it is our business to
reach out to them.
As members of the Church, we are
not just a priestly people who offer sacrifice; we are also a prophetic people,
which means that we are God’s spokespersons. We speak on behalf of God. Today’s
first reading is, in fact, a compact job description that God gave to the
prophet Ezekiel on what it means to be a prophetic person. As sentinel or
watchman, Ezekiel places himself as an intermediary between God and the people.
He realizes that it is his responsibility as a member of the community to ensure
that all in the community are saved from sin. He cannot be merely content with
his own salvation. He must do whatever it takes to bring those who stray back
to the fold.
The Gospel text from Matthew
deals with discipline, reconciliation and the presence of the Lord. This text
is part of the fourth discourse in the Gospel commonly known as the “Community
Discourse”. The concern in these verses is with community or congregational
life and not primarily about personal relations. Like Ezekiel, every Christian
is also called to be concerned about other members of the community, since ours
is a faith of a community and never of merely individuals. We act together, so
we can help one another and so we can work to God’s name, thereby multiplying
our resources and ability to do what God calls us to do. Our community is the
lifeline to the experience of God and an example of the power of God moving
among God’s people.
The procedures that Matthew
suggests for bringing back an errant member of the community may seem
stringent. However, when we realize that the point is one of radical care and
concern and not self righteousness or vindictiveness, then they take on a new
meaning. The errant member, the leaders of the community and the community are
all protected from arbitrariness and self-centered actions.
While a private spiritual and
prayer life is essential for each of us and we need to spend time alone with
God, it is likely to become dry and turn inward, if it is not infused with
regular doses of shared worship and prayer with others, gathered in the Lord’s
name. The gathering together also signifies how important we are to each other
and how much we depend on each other. Through our link to one another through
Christ, there is a power in our community, uniting the values of God to our
values on earth. This is how Jesus enables us to use God’s power for healing
and life-giving love effectively among God’s people.We come together, we stay
together, we work together in our Lord’s name, bringing to focus the presence
of God and unleashing the power of the Spirit to transform our lives and the
lives of all God’s children.
In the second reading of today
Paul, speaking in a similar vein, challenges the community at Rome to show
their love for one another in action. It is love which characterizes the
Christian community and it is love which will sustain and nourish it. This love
must also show itself as a commitment to justice – a love that never does any
wrong to anyone. To be Christian thus means to be one who not only loves, but
also one led by love to reach out to anyone who is in need. It is to be
conscious of the fact that even if one member of the community does not feel
part of the community, the community is not whole.
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