08

23^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time —Year A

Fr. Jijo Kandamkulathy CMF

 甘天霖神父

Gospel: Matthew 18:15-20

A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew,

Glory to you, O Lord!

"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."

The Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ.

Homily: CHECK YOUR INTENTION BEFORE CORRECTING YOUR NEIGHBOR

Today we are invited to reflect on Jesus’ recommendations on how to recover one who failed or got lost. Jesus says, "Your Father in heaven doesn’t want even one of these little ones to perish.” It is up to the shepherd, of course, to search for the sheep that is lost, wounded, and in risk of falling in a very deep and dark ravine. However, every Christian is a shepherd of their sister and brother. No one can say like Cain: "Am I my brother's keeper?" (Gen 4:9).

The law of love requires a commitment to bring the brother/sister on the right path, but how to proceed in such a delicate issue? There is a mistake that must be avoided: gossiping, spreading the news of the error. This is defamation. It serves only to marginalize the one who did wrong, to humiliate him/her. The truth about others spoken without any benefit is gossip. The truth that does not produce love but causes anxiety, creates dissension, hatred and resentment is better not spoken. One cannot tell everything that is true or everything one knows. One must, above all, refrain from disclosing a truth to those who want to use it for evil.

Let's see what Jesus suggests to "tell the truth" to a brother/sister who is in danger of being lost. The path to follow is divided into three stages. First: one has to talk personally to the brother/sister, person to person, face to face. Everything must be resolved in secret, to prevent others from finding out what happened.

If this first attempt does not produce the desired result, the second step to take is to ask for help from one or two sensible and wise brothers/sisters of the community. Never forget the goal: the recovery of the brother/sister. One should never give the impression of cornering him/her or putting him/her in front of someone who looks for ways to convict. S/he must perceive that s/he is dealing with friends who want her/his good and willing to testify in front of the brothers/sisters of her/his good disposition.

The last stage is the recourse to the community. This can happen only when the sin committed risks to disturb the brothers and sisters, especially those who are weak in the faith. If so and the culprit does not want to amend, then s/he must be considered "as a heathen and as a publican.”

Taken literally, this recommendation squeals out of Jesus’ lips, who has just warned the disciples: "See that you do not despise any of these little ones” (v. 10). How is it possible that "the friend of publicans and sinners" (Mt 11:19) pronounce a very hard judgment?

The responsibility entrusted to the church is great. She is called to authentically declare what thoughts, feelings, and choices are in accordance with the gospel and which one moves away from Christ. She does not cast out, condemn nor punish anyone but only helps one to become aware of the condition in which everyone stands in taking certain decisions. To achieve this result one should be clear that the measures taken against him/her are dictated only by love, not by the desire to "separate him/her" from a community that considers herself perfect.

证道：纠正邻人要出于爱，诽谤排斥不可为！

今天，我们被邀请来反省耶稣关于如何规劝失败或迷失之人的建议。耶稣说：“你们的在天之父不想让这些小子中的任何一个丧亡。”当然，这取决于牧人寻找那些迷失的、受伤和处于跌进非常深又黑暗峡谷危险中的羊。不论如何，每个基督徒都是他们兄弟姐妹的牧人。谁也不能像加音那样说：“难道我是看守我弟弟的人？”（创4：9）

爱的法律需要一个把兄弟姐妹带到正确道路的责任，不过，该如何开展这个棘手的问题呢？有个错误必须要避免：说三道四闲聊，传播错误消息。这是诽谤中伤。这样只会让犯错的人遭受羞辱，被边缘化。流言蜚语就是毫无益处地讲论别人的事实。这事实不能产生爱，反而会引起焦虑，造成纷争、仇恨和恩怨，最好是闭口不言。一个人不能把所有事实或自己知道的一切都说出来，最重要的是避免把事实透露给那些想要用来行恶的人。

让我们看看耶稣对处于迷失危险中的兄弟姐妹所建议的“实话实说”。这方法分为三个步骤：首先，要私下面对面与兄弟或姐妹沟通。为了不让别人知道所发生的事情，所有的事情都必须私下秘密解决。

如果第一步没有达到想要的结果，就采取第二步：向团体中一两个明事理的兄弟或姐妹寻求帮助。总不要忘了目的是规劝兄弟或姐妹。千万不要给人一种把他/她逼入绝境的印象，或者把他或她送到寻找方法定罪的人跟前。他/她必须意识到：他/她是在对待想要他/她善意的朋友，并愿意在其兄弟或姐妹前见证他/她的和善。

最后一步是诉诸于教会团体。这种情况只有在所犯的罪干扰到兄弟姐妹，尤其是那些信德上软弱的人，才会采取的。如果是这样，犯罪之人仍旧不思悔改，那么此人必须被视为“外教人或税吏”。

从字面上看，这个提议是耶稣亲口说的，而耶稣刚刚警告过门徒门：“不要轻视这些小子中的一个”（10节）。作为“税吏和罪人的朋友”（玛11：19），耶稣怎么可能宣布如此严厉的判决呢？

赋予教会的责任是重大的。教会被召叫真实可靠地宣告依据福音的思想、观念、感受和选择，还有哪些是使人远离基督的。教会既不驱逐和谴责，也不判决任何人，而只是帮助每个人意识到自己作出某些决定的状况。要达到这个效果，人必需要清楚：对他/她采取的措施只是出于爱，而不是期望从一个自认完美的教会团体中“隔离他/她”。

文本来源：雅颂福传
译者：Fr.James Gao