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God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.” ~ 2Cor 5:19

 

Homily by Fr. Robert Chiesa, SJ
23rd Sunday Ordinary Time [A] at 12 Noon Mass
St. Ignatius Church, Tokyo

Today we hear from various angles about being responsible believers, responsible for supporting one another.

   In the first reading from the prophet Ezekiel, the prophet is reminded that he must warn people when harm is coming their way, or confront people who are doing themselves harm by violating the word of God especially as it relates to other persons. The prophet is warned not to turn a blind eye to forbidden behavior out of fear or false respect. He must come to the rescue of such persons and bring them back to the commandments of the Lord.


St Paul, in the second reading, tells us that we fulfill the commandments of the Lord by having and showing love. Paul enumerates the commandments relating to our behavior toward other people and says that the root of observing them is having love, which means respect and concern for the other. Just as parents love their children and want to save them from harming themselves, so we as believers should be eager to keep others from doing harm to themselves or to the community of believers.


When looking at today’s gospel, it helps to start from the end and read back from there. Jesus tells us that when two or three people gather in his name, in the name of Jesus, as believers, this forms a portion of the local church and Jesus is present with them. This presence of Jesus is a theme of Matthew’s gospel, from the beginning where we are told that the son to be born of Mary will be known as Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.” Matthew’s gospel ends with Jesus’ promise: “I will be with you always, to the end of the age.” And so Jesus assures us that whatever we ask the Father in his name will be given. The Father will hear and accept our prayers. They might not be answered in the way we expect, but our prayers will be heard and answered in God’s good way and God’s good time.


Well, reading back further in today’s gospel, we are reminded that we believers continue to be weak human beings. Pope Francis reminds us of that by being the first to admit that he is a sinner and needs the support of our prayers. That is why he declared the Year of Mercy last year, to remind us all that we need to accept the mercy of God and pass it on to others by understanding and forgiving them as we are understood and forgiven by God. “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” If we don’t forgive others, how can we expect to be forgiven by God?


I think that is the point of the harsh words in today’s gospel which say something like this: If they don’t listen to the Church, consider that they have separated themselves from the community. The community simply cannot allow any of its members to live a life that is in contradiction to what the community represents. If someone is resentful or envious or gossipy and harms the reputation of others, there are helpful and considerate ways of engaging with that person so as to prevent further harm to that person or to others. But when it is question of serious harm or scandal, the local church community has the power and responsibility of judging (what is called “binding or loosing”), not to condemn but to maintain order and protect the community and, hopefully, to bring about the conversion of the offenders.
One case that comes to mind is that of people who deceive their husband or wife by having another family somewhere unknown to that spouse. More than once I have come across such cases in the confessional. These are times when the priest cannot give absolution and, sadly, are instances of what Jesus said, “Whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.” The priest cannot say “I forgive your sins” when he knows that the situation of having two families is not going to change. I invited such persons to come around outside the confessional to discuss the situation and look for some solution.


Another case of serious harm is participation in public demonstrations of hate or discrimination against minorities. But there are less outstanding sins of society that we are all involved in, in one way or another. For instance, increasing our own wealth by taking advantage of the weakness of others. This is especially true of the wealthier countries of the world, which buy resources or cheap labor from other countries to increase their own wealth. We all bear some responsibility for the sins of society, and I think this is why Pope Francis reminds us that we are all sinners and share in a collective responsibility.


In fulfilling our duty of mutual responsibility and fraternal correction, we have to be careful not to confront others out of revenge or anger. That only provokes a reaction of self-defense. And we needn’t give up on people in high positions who make bad decisions out of self-interest. We can pray for their conversion, that they will open their hearts to the sufferings of so many people whom they tend to ignore. And we can ask ourselves what we are doing as responsible individuals to build up a more peaceful, joyful, and hopeful society.


The only way to approach these problem situations is through a truly loving concern, inviting people to think about what is happening, encouraging them to change, and helping them to do so. The Christian community changes for the better when we ourselves change for the better and help one another to change and grow. This pertains to us all. Today more than ever we believers need to hear Jesus’ call to change our ways and help one another to become better believers, better humans, better citizens of our country and our world.
 


 

 

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