OT XXVI [A] (Ez 18:25-28; Phil 2:1-11; Mt 21:28-32)

In the eleventh century, King Henry III of Bavaria grew tired of court life and the pressures of being a monarch. He made application to Prior Richard at a local monastery, asking to be accepted as a contemplative and spend the rest of his life in the monastery. “Your Majesty,” said Prior Richard, “do you understand that the pledge here is one of obedience? That will be hard because you have been a king?” “I understand,” said Henry. “The rest of my life I will be obedient to you, as Christ leads you.” “Then I will tell you what to do,” said Prior Richard. “Go back to your throne and serve faithfully in the place where God has put you.” When King Henry died, a statement was written, “The King learned to rule by being obedient.” Christ was obedient to the will of his Father unto death, even death on the cross. As his disciples, we, too, are called to be obedient to the will of God.

This passage from the gospel sets before us a picture of two very imperfect sets of people, of whom one set were none the less better than the other. Neither son in the story was the kind of son to bring full joy to his father. Both were unsatisfactory; but the one who in the end obeyed was incalculably better than the other.

 

The Gospel tells us that there are two very common classes of people in this world. First, there are the people whose profession is much better than their practice. They will promise anything. They make great protestations of piety and fidelity. They fight for the rights of the church. They collect together the down- trodden to fight for their rights. But, their practices lag behind. At least some of us fall into this category. Our charity; our compassion; our holy rites are only demonstrations without the element of sincerity. We sometimes profess their faith but never practice.

Second, there are those whose practice is far better than their profession. They are fond of doing kind and generous things, almost in secret. But the real good man is the man in whom profession and practice meet and match.

This parable teaches that promises can never take the place of performance, and fine words are not substitute for fine deeds. The world has many preachers, but it is still looking for performers; the world is keen to have a Florence Nightingale; a Gandhiji or a Mother Theresa.

 

It is common in today's world to find Catholics who openly disagree with core Catholic teaching. We all know people who say that they are Catholic, but who don't come to Mass on Sunday - they only come on Christmas and Easter, if they come at all.

We all have heard or read about politicians who say that they are ardent and practicing Catholics, but who publicly support laws that go directly against some of the most basic tenets of morality as taught by the Catholic Church.

We call ourselves practicing Catholics, and yet we spend more time working on our favorite hobbies than on our prayer life, and we spend more time becoming an expert in our profession than in our faith, and we tolerate in our own lives hidden habits of selfishness and sin while we criticize other people for their more visible faults.

If we think about it a little bit, we see very clearly that this contradiction between what we believe and how we live is not a good thing. It is like the second son in today's parable. He impressed his dad with fancy words and a good show of healthy obedience, but underneath the surface he was still living for his own self-centered gratification, not for the greater good of his mission in the Father's kingdom.

When we fall into that contradiction, it is no wonder that we don't grow in our experience of Christ's love and grace, and it is no wonder that we don't grow in wisdom, interior peace, and the deep Christian joy that we thirst for. Faith, if it's real, makes a real impact on our lives. When it doesn't, our spiritual growth is stunted.

The surest way to banish hypocrisy from our lives is to adopt as our personal motto the phrase that Jesus taught us in the Our Father: "Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done." God's will is dependable and truthful, and when we make it our highest priority, we too become dependable and truthful. And unlike followers of some other religions, as Christians we have an objective standard for God's will that protects us from doing evil and calling it "the will of God."

God's commandments, the responsibilities of our state in life, and the inspirations of the Holy Spirit: this is the threefold path to a truthful, fulfilling life, free from the poison of hypocrisy.

Today let’s ask ourselves: Which son am I ? Do my actions indicate my obedience to God’s will? Am I ready to change my attitudes and behavior?

The challenge is to be like a third son: Jesus, who was always faithful. St. Paul reminds us “Have in you the same attitude that is also in Christ Jesus, who.. humbled himself, becoming obedient unto the point of death.

Today, let's make Christ's motto our motto: Thy Kingdom come, Lord, and thy will be done, in my life, just as it is in heaven.

 

OT.XXIV.Sir. 27:30-28:7; Rom. 14:7-9; Mt. 18:21-35

French author Victor Hugo has a short story titled, “93.” In the midst of this tale, a ship at sea is caught in a terrific storm. Buffeted by the waves, the ship rocks to and fro, when suddenly the crew hears an awesome crashing sound below deck. They know what it is. A cannon they are carrying has broken loose and is smashing into the ship’s sides with every list of the ship. Two brave sailors, at the risk of their lives, manage to go below and fasten it again, for they know that the heavy cannon on the inside of their ship is more dangerous to them than the storm on the outside. So it is with people. Problems within are often much more destructive to us than the problems without. Today, God’s word would take us “below decks” to look inside ourselves concerning the whole matter of forgiveness. 

 

In the Bible there are many personalities who can be projected as the epitome of forgiveness. Jacob deceived his father and received his blessings disguising as Esau. To escape from the anger of Esau Jacob fled to Laban. When he heard that his brother Esau was looking for him he was scared. When they finally met, Esau ran to Jacob and hugged him and kissed him and showed forgiveness and mercy. (Gen 33) Joseph’s brothers became jealous and eventually sold him into slavery. When Joseph revealed himself, they were shocked to know he was alive. They even feared for years that he would seek retribution. But he comforted them, and spoke to them kindly.” (Gen. 50:19-21). Knowing that Saul wanted to Kill David, he fled for his life. He later had the opportunity to Kill Saul, but he spared his life, because he had a forgiving heart. Stephen was stoned to death when he preached a courageous sermon in which he condemned the unbelief of the Jews. When he was dying he asked God to forgive those who were putting him to death.

 

Since God forgives us so much, we are bound to extend our forgiveness to our brothers and sisters who sin against us. But it is one of the hardest things to practice. We live in a society which glorifies revenge. When a person seeks revenge rather than healing, he is committing spiritual suicide.

"Being unable to forgive is the greatest obstacle to holiness!" Many are unable to proceed with their sanctification because they cannot find it in their hearts to forgive. Man has no right to seek vengeance.  “Vengeance is mine,” says the Lord. To God belongs the right of vengeance and rewarding; the unrighteous soul will fall in due time for the day of disaster is approaching and it will quickly arrive. [Dt. 32:35]. Still, Jesus’ message was to forgive, and Jesus could forgive those who murdered Him [Lk. 23:33-4]. Hence, it should not be difficult for us to forgive. Our act of forgiveness can make the world a better place to live in.

Forgiveness does not mean condoning evil: Neither in God nor in the Christian community, do forgiveness and reconciliation mean the indefinite tolerance of evil and unjust behavior. The king in the parable was perfectly ready to forgive the senior official. But how could reconciliation take place when the official later behaved in such an abominable way to a brother? We can be ready to forgive the sinner indefinitely, but we must fight against sin without counting the cost. God and the Church can forgive the repentant sinner, but they cannot condone unrepented behavior that is a source of real evil and suffering.

 

Forgiveness is release from imprisonment. The wealthy slave, whose debt was inconceivably enormous, is liberated to go about his life, but he uses his regained freedom to imprison the poor fellow slave who owes a tiny amount. He has been freed from debt but he becomes ever more imprisoned in his greed and lack of compassion. The prison door is open, but he becomes ever more incarcerated in selfishness. 

It was the Rabbinic teaching that a man must forgive his brother three times. Peter thought that he was going very far when he asked whether it was enough if he forgives seven times. But Jesus’ answer was that the Christian must forgive seventy times seven. That means, our forgiveness should not be just once or twice, but ongoing forgiveness; day after day, week after week, years after years, this should be done without counting.

 

When we hear the teaching of Jesus, “forgive seventy times seven, we conclude that it is an utopian idea. It can only be taught but not practiced. But in every age and in every generation, there are thousands of human souls that do it literally. We see them; we talk to them; we live with them; but we do not recognize them. A mother cannot but forgive her child, whatever it does. The child might disobey the mother; the child might hurt the mother; the child might show ingratitude to mother; but nothing stops the mother from forgiving her child, hour after hour, day after day, week after week and  year after year. The mother’s life is a long story of forgiveness to her children. What enables the mother to forgive her children seventy times seven or even seven hundred times seven is her love for them.

We must forgive in order to be forgiven. Jesus explains this after teaching the prayer, Our Father, saying, “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Mt 6:14-15). James offers this warning in different words: “For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy” (Jas 2:13). This means that Divine and human forgiveness go hand in hand.

 

Let us begin to practise the virtue of forgiveness in little measures, in the family, in the public places, in the work place, and in the place of worship. A constant and conscious attempt to practice the virtue of forgiveness will help us to master it and forgive any offense against us. With practice, we can all learn to forgive the little offenses of every day.

 

OT XXIII [A]: Ez 33:7-9; Rom 13:8-10; Mt 18:15-20

 

The Portland Oregonian newspaper carried this story from the Vietnam War. Several soldiers were together in a trench when a live grenade was thrown in among them. Within an instant, one soldier threw his body on the grenade and muffled the explosion which took his life but saved all of the others with him. In a sense, believers are proffered a similar challenge in today’s readings. Both the first reading (Ezekiel) and the Gospel (Matthew) are concerned with the responsibility each one of us has regarding the spiritual welfare and salvation of others.

 

Today’s readings remind us that correction when done fraternally, it a great act of charity that we should appreciate and practice for the good of others.

In today’s First Reading the Lord reminds Ezekiel, and us, that it is our moral responsibility to warn a brother or sister that they are doing something evil. It’s our duty to inform people of the consequences of their evil actions.

When the Lord first asked Cain about the murder of Abel, he phrased it in a way that tried to help Cain realize he was responsible for his brother: “Where is Abel your brother?”  Cain responded, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” (Genesis 4:9). We are all our brother’s keepers.

We live in a world that teaches us to mind our own business, but that doesn’t include someone who is drowning, at the mercy of criminals, or committing a crime themselves.

The Lord today is telling Ezekiel today, and us, to inform consciences out of charity, not to force them onto the right path. If we love someone, we cannot leave them in ignorance about the evil they’re doing.

In today’s Second Reading St. Paul reminds us that every just law is built on love, and if we focus on loving and teaching others to love everything else will fall into place. Society has many laws and measures today that are built on justice, but not always enforced with love.

In today’s Gospel Our Lord reminds us that before entering into litigation with someone who has wronged us we should try simple fraternal correction.

Our society today tends to try and resolve disputes through rules and regulations, lawyers and courts, fines and penalties. We often try from the beginning to get justice from someone through someone else, when we know that nobody reacts well to being pressured into doing something. We should always try to start by settling a dispute fraternally: one on one, in frank but charitable dialogue.

We should not only seek our good, but the good of the person who has afflicted us, and we won’t completely understand their motives if we don’t speak to them. There are many small disagreements that can be resolved this way and to everyone’s satisfaction.

If an attempt at fraternal correction fails it is not a lack of charity to bring witnesses in and, if necessary the (Church) authorities, to help both parties see the truth and adhere to it.

Justice is sought, but the good of both parties as well. If the guilty party does not listen to all the facts and an authoritative judgment, then the guilty party has been shown to not be in communion with those he or she has afflicted, and that has to be acknowledged, sometimes publicly. When the Church formally declares someone to be excommunicated or under interdict it is taking this step for the good of the unrepentant party.

 

A man approached St. Francis of Assisi and asked him, “Brother Francis, I am in a quandary. In the Bible, it says we should rebuke sinners, but I see people sinning all the time. I don’t feel like I should go around rebuking everybody.” St. Francis then said, “What you must do is to live in such a way that your life rebukes the sinner– How you act will call others to repentance.”

 

Fraternal correction is simply pointing out that someone is on a collision course. They can stay on course if they wish, but it’s inadvisable. Some people may be eager to go out and start correcting, but there is a fine line between judging and correcting.

Our Lord taught us, take care of the beam in your eye before you help your brother with the splinter in his (Mat 7:3-5). If we’re going to inform other peoples’ consciences, we need to make sure to form our own.

Reading Part III of the Catechism of the Catholic Church is a good way to deal with the beam in your eye so that you can better help your brother with removing the splinter from his.

The best remedy to being judgmental is to remember that we are all sinners in need of grace and guidance.

We’ve spoken today about fraternal correction, but we need to learn to accept correction as well. If someone takes an interest enough in us to point out something that we might need to work on, we should be grateful. If the person is not exactly fraternal about it, and it is a valid point, we should be grateful. As an added bonus, it will help us to be more fraternal in correcting others.

Let’s realize that the desire for other’s salvation should be at the heart of our effort to correct an erring brother. That is why it is a duty laid on us. As we continue with this celebration of the Eucharist let’s us ask for the grace to love others as we love ourselves and to forgive others as we seek forgiveness.