From the Gospel acclamation: “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 18:15-20)
Jesus said to his disciples: “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.”
Jesus teaches the disciples how to reconcile within the Christian community. In first approaching the wrongdoing of another toward you to find reconciliation, Jesus hints at the joyful outcome. Seeking reconciliation out of sincerity and goodness multiplies goodness by winning over a brother with it. If private reconciliation is not achieved, then escalating it with the involvement of more witnesses is necessary. In this teaching, Jesus emphasizes the importance of forgiveness and reconciliation but at the same time calls attention to the need for discipline and accountability when necessary. The aim is unity in the Church through Jesus Christ. “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
God, thank you for entrusting to me the means to choose reconciliation and to discern when that is at least temporarily not possible. Jesus acknowledges that brothers and sisters do sin against one another, and he makes explicit the reality of truth in saying “so that every fact may be established.” Grant me the wisdom to reconcile in the light of truth whenever possible for the sake of uniting in prayer with those who gather in the name of Jesus Christ your Son. Through his teachings, help me learn to recognize when I encounter someone who refuses to reconcile, even when listening to the counsels of the Church on repentance and conversion. For the sake of your glory, Lord, guide me as I seek to follow your teachings on reconciliation. Saint Maximilian Kolbe, pray for us!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.