"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."
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."
It is clear from Jesus' words that He wanted to establish a Church, a community of believers. Two Sundays ago, we witnessed how He established His Church upon Peter, the rock. His apostles and disciples are the first members of His Church.
In today's Gospel, we witness how Jesus instructs His disciples like a father gives advice to his children. Here, we can see clearly that Jesus desires that His followers should live as a community, living a common way of life that He Himself taught them. He constantly preached to them about many things, knowing that someday when He ascends into heaven, the Holy Spirit will remind them of all these teachings and empower them to carry these out (cf. Jn 14:26).
In exhorting His disciples to try and win back their brother who sins against them, Jesus is in effect reminding them of the importance of one another. Instead of holding a grudge, a Christian ought to be more concerned about the fact that his brother sinned and that sin ruins the harmony within the Church. In introducing this communal mentality, Jesus rejects the notion that men ought to be concerned only about his own salvation. Jesus reminds us that our fellow Christians are our brothers and sisters. And a Christian is always his brothers' keeper.
At the end of His exhortation, Jesus says that a brother who sins and does not listen even to the Church should be treated as if he were a tax collector or a Gentile. But this does not mean we must discriminate unrepentant members of the Church. After all, how did Jesus treat the Gentiles and tax collectors? Did He not treat them with respect and love? And did He not wait patiently for their repentance? So also must we treat our unrepentant brethren. After doing our best to win them back, we have nothing left to do but pray that they may find their way back to God and to His Church again.
To be a true follower of Christ, we must not avoid the community of believers who also wish to follow Him. And we must see others who do not believe in Christ as people who are as of yet lost but will soon be found. As He said in the Gospel, Jesus is present in His Church and His presence gives strength to this community of believers in order for its members to carry out His challenging teachings.
As the Church, may we also pray for what Jesus prayed for: that we may be one (cf. Jn 17:21). True enough, even as we need Jesus to strengthen us, we need our fellow believers to help us as we journey towards Jesus' Kingdom.
In today's Gospel, we witness how Jesus instructs His disciples like a father gives advice to his children. Here, we can see clearly that Jesus desires that His followers should live as a community, living a common way of life that He Himself taught them. He constantly preached to them about many things, knowing that someday when He ascends into heaven, the Holy Spirit will remind them of all these teachings and empower them to carry these out (cf. Jn 14:26).
In exhorting His disciples to try and win back their brother who sins against them, Jesus is in effect reminding them of the importance of one another. Instead of holding a grudge, a Christian ought to be more concerned about the fact that his brother sinned and that sin ruins the harmony within the Church. In introducing this communal mentality, Jesus rejects the notion that men ought to be concerned only about his own salvation. Jesus reminds us that our fellow Christians are our brothers and sisters. And a Christian is always his brothers' keeper.
At the end of His exhortation, Jesus says that a brother who sins and does not listen even to the Church should be treated as if he were a tax collector or a Gentile. But this does not mean we must discriminate unrepentant members of the Church. After all, how did Jesus treat the Gentiles and tax collectors? Did He not treat them with respect and love? And did He not wait patiently for their repentance? So also must we treat our unrepentant brethren. After doing our best to win them back, we have nothing left to do but pray that they may find their way back to God and to His Church again.
To be a true follower of Christ, we must not avoid the community of believers who also wish to follow Him. And we must see others who do not believe in Christ as people who are as of yet lost but will soon be found. As He said in the Gospel, Jesus is present in His Church and His presence gives strength to this community of believers in order for its members to carry out His challenging teachings.
As the Church, may we also pray for what Jesus prayed for: that we may be one (cf. Jn 17:21). True enough, even as we need Jesus to strengthen us, we need our fellow believers to help us as we journey towards Jesus' Kingdom.
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