Fr. Adolph Guy sx
On this twenty-third Sunday of the Ordinary Time, cycle A, the Church suggests us some readings to reflect and meditate on for our spiritual nourishment: Ezekiel 33: 7-9 for the first reading, psalm 95 as the responsorial psalm, the letter of Saint Paul to the Romans 13:8-10 as the second reading, and the holy gospel according to Matthew 18:15-20. The three readings can be summed up under the title: the love of neighbor.
A neighbor is everybody
Literally, a neighbor is the person standing next to you. A neighbor can thus be your wife, husband, child, colleague, office mate, the person next door, etc. As such, a neighbor can be a very ambivalent person to deal with. To put it bluntly, for various reasons, a neighbor can either be a hell or a paradise. This is why the holy scriptures, particularly Saint Paul in today’s second reading, enjoin us to love our neighbors specifically the way we love ourselves. And a neighbor is everybody truly.
Harden not your heart
With the words of the psalmist, each one of us here has said three times to themselves and to everyone close: “O that today you would listen to his voice! Harden not your hearts.” Through these words, I would like to share with you, by way of illustration, an experience I have witnessed some time ago. This is about the way today’s gospel fixed a broken family somewhere. Once, a young man approached me and invited me to his family to talk to his parents because there were some tensions within their home. Before going, I inquired from various people in the community to know what the issue was. I must admit that I didn’t quite find out exactly what was the problem. What I heard from the people is that there was an issue that the family tried many times to settle with the help of the community. However, one of the spouses was not ready to dialogue, in order to address the issue and move on. Together with some elders of the church, I visited the family. As we sat for the discussion, I could sense a strong resistance from one of the protagonists so that, despite the advice from various people, there was no way forward. It was as if there was a nod strongly tied in the heart of the other spouse. In search for the way forward, the Holy Spirit flashed into my mind the process of the reconciliation within the Christian community as it is described in today’s gospel, and I proclaimed it loudly for everyone to hear it just as we sat together. Surprisingly, this excerpt from the gospel untied the nod in the heart of one of the spouses. The person was now able to listen and open for the discussion and eventually we witnessed a Christian reconciliation. The meeting ended in a joyful mood. Henry Nouwen sums it up in this way: “Members of the Christian community, whether it is in marriage or friendship or larger communities, can stay together if they can confess and forgive as a way of life.”
For the sake of love
The Lord Jesus says today: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault…” Do not wait for the perpetrator to come and apologize but the victim is the first one to move forward toward the other for the sake of love. Again, Henry Nouwen advises: “Do not wait until you feel better about things. No! You should do it precisely when you don’t feel better. Act ahead of the feelings. Do not let emotions decide what you are going to do.”[1]
Finally, saint Paul has demonstrated to us how to love one’s neighbor sums up the commandments.
It is worth to listen to him again:
Brethren: Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbour has fulfilled the law.
The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this sentence, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
Amen!
On this twenty-third Sunday of the Ordinary Time, cycle A, the Church suggests us some readings to reflect and meditate on for our spiritual nourishment: Ezekiel 33: 7-9 for the first reading, psalm 95 as the responsorial psalm, the letter of Saint Paul to the Romans 13:8-10 as the second reading, and the holy gospel according to Matthew 18:15-20. The three readings can be summed up under the title: the love of neighbor.
A neighbor is everybody
Literally, a neighbor is the person standing next to you. A neighbor can thus be your wife, husband, child, colleague, office mate, the person next door, etc. As such, a neighbor can be a very ambivalent person to deal with. To put it bluntly, for various reasons, a neighbor can either be a hell or a paradise. This is why the holy scriptures, particularly Saint Paul in today’s second reading, enjoin us to love our neighbors specifically the way we love ourselves. And a neighbor is everybody truly.
Harden not your heart
With the words of the psalmist, each one of us here has said three times to themselves and to everyone close: “O that today you would listen to his voice! Harden not your hearts.” Through these words, I would like to share with you, by way of illustration, an experience I have witnessed some time ago. This is about the way today’s gospel fixed a broken family somewhere. Once, a young man approached me and invited me to his family to talk to his parents because there were some tensions within their home. Before going, I inquired from various people in the community to know what the issue was. I must admit that I didn’t quite find out exactly what was the problem. What I heard from the people is that there was an issue that the family tried many times to settle with the help of the community. However, one of the spouses was not ready to dialogue, in order to address the issue and move on. Together with some elders of the church, I visited the family. As we sat for the discussion, I could sense a strong resistance from one of the protagonists so that, despite the advice from various people, there was no way forward. It was as if there was a nod strongly tied in the heart of the other spouse. In search for the way forward, the Holy Spirit flashed into my mind the process of the reconciliation within the Christian community as it is described in today’s gospel, and I proclaimed it loudly for everyone to hear it just as we sat together. Surprisingly, this excerpt from the gospel untied the nod in the heart of one of the spouses. The person was now able to listen and open for the discussion and eventually we witnessed a Christian reconciliation. The meeting ended in a joyful mood. Henry Nouwen sums it up in this way: “Members of the Christian community, whether it is in marriage or friendship or larger communities, can stay together if they can confess and forgive as a way of life.”
For the sake of love
The Lord Jesus says today: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault…” Do not wait for the perpetrator to come and apologize but the victim is the first one to move forward toward the other for the sake of love. Again, Henry Nouwen advises: “Do not wait until you feel better about things. No! You should do it precisely when you don’t feel better. Act ahead of the feelings. Do not let emotions decide what you are going to do.”[1]
Finally, saint Paul has demonstrated to us how to love one’s neighbor sums up the commandments.
It is worth to listen to him again:
Brethren: Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbour has fulfilled the law.
The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this sentence, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
Amen!