A Brother Who Sins

Today's Reflections 

 

                                      

A Brother Who Sins

Mt 18:15-20

[Jesus said to his disciples,] ¹⁵“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. ¹⁶If 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.’ ¹⁷If 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. ¹⁸Amen, 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. ¹⁹Again, [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. ²⁰For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. God’s presence is manifested and experienced in the life of the Church. But the Church is made up of a motley group whose faith-life is at different levels of development. Some members readily resist the temptations the world presents. Others are easily tempted or led astray. Sin harms our relationship with God and with one another. It destroys peace and harmony in the community. Today’s Gospel tells us how we are to deal with one another and with a member who sins.

To protect the interest of the community we must go through the process of individual and fraternal correction. If these fail, we must bring the matter before the assembled community. Fraternal corrections, prayers for and by the community, and acts of reconciliation will stop the vicious cycle of sin and division and restore harmony and happiness in the community of believers.

“One who condones evil is just as guilty as the one who perpetrates it” (Martin Luther King Jr.).