Homily
for the 23rd Sunday
in Ordinary Time (Cycle A)
Based
on Mt 18:15-20 (Gospel),
Ez 33:7-9
(First Reading) and Rm 13:8-10 (Second Reading)
From
the Series: “Reflections and Teachings of the Desert”
BROTHERLY CORRECTION
“If your brother
does something wrong, go and have it out with him alone” (Mt 18:15).
The Gospel for this
Ascension Sunday (Cycle A)
is taken from Mt 18:15-20 with the title “Brotherly correction.”
Parallel text is from Lk 17:3 that says: Watch yourselves! Brotherly correctiona
‘If your brother does something wrong, rep[rove him and, if he is sorry,
forgive him. Footnote a says “Lk, apparently, is thinking of a matter that concerns only two of the
community; in Mt the offence is more public. Lk does not mention appealing to
the community.”
Verse 15 says: ‘If your brother does something wrong,g go and have it
out with him alone, between your two selves. If he listens to you, you have won
back your brother. Footnote g says “Many
authorities add the specifying phrase ‘to you’, but it is probably to be
omitted. The fault in question is grave and notorious; it has not necessarily
been committed against the one whose duty it is to correct it. In v. 21 the
case if different.”
Parallel text of verse is that says:
1. Lv
19:17 - You must not bear hatred for your brother in your heart. You must
openly tell him, your neighbor, of his offence; this way you will not take a
sin upon yourself.
2. Ga
6:1 - Brothers, if one of you misbehaves the more spiritual of you who set him
right should do so in a spirit of gentleness, not forgetting that you may be tempted
yourselves.
3. Tt
3:10 - If a man disputes what you teach,
then after a first and second warning, have no more to do with him;b Footnote
b says “Lit.
‘Avoid any heretical man after one or two warnings’; Paul uses a contemporary
philosophical term: etymologically a ‘heretic’ is someone who instead of being
open to all truth chooses what truths he will believe: groups of people who
agree on the same choice are ‘sects’ (offshoots of parent bodies).”
Verse 16 says: If he does
not, take one or two others along with you: the evidence of two or three
witnesses is required to sustain any charge.
Parallel text of verse is that says:
1.
Dt 19:15 - A single witness cannot suffice to
convict a man of a crime or offence of any kind; whatever the misdemeanor, the
evidence of two witnesses or three is required to sustain the charge.
2.
2 Co 13:1 - This will be the third time I have
come to you. The evidence of three, or at least two, witnesses is
necessary to sustain the charge.
3.
1 Tm 5:19-20 - Never accept any accusation
brought against an elder unless it is supported by two or three witnesses
(v.19). If any of them are at fault, reprimand them publicly, as a warning to
the rest (v. 20).
Verse 17 says: But if he refuses to listen to these, report it to the community;h
and if he refuses to listen to the community, treat him like a pagan or tax
collector.i Footnote
h says “The ekklesia,
i.e. the qahal or gathering of the brethren.;” Footnote i says “i.e.
‘outcast’, ‘excommunicate’.”
Parallel texts are:
1. Rm
16:17 - I implore you, brothers, be on
your guard against anybody who encourages trouble or puts difficulties in the
way of the doctrine you have been taught. Avoid them.h Footnote h says “The curt warning is
reminiscent of Ga 6:12-17. It probably refers to judaising preachers, cf. Ga
5:7-12 and particularly Ph 3:18-19.”
2.
1 Co 5:11 - What I wrote was that you should not
associate with brother Christian who is leading an immoral life, or s usurer,
or idolatrous, or a slanderer, or a drunkard, or is dishonest; you should not
even eat a meal with people like that.
Verse 18 says: ‘I
tell you solemnly, whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in
heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.j
Footnote j says
Parallel text of verse is that says:
1. Mt
16:19 - I will give you the keys of the
kingdom of heaven: whatsoever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in
heaven; whatsoever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.i
Footnote i says “ The City of God, like the City of Death,
has its gates too; they grant entrance only to those who are worthy of it.
Peter has the keys. It is his function, therefore, to open or close to all who
would come to the kingdom of heaven through the Church. ‘bind’ and ‘loose’ are
technical rabbinic terms; primarily they have a disciplinary reference; one is
‘bound’ (condemned to) o ‘loosed’ (absolved from) excommunication. Their
secondary usage is connected with doctrinal or juridical decisions: an opinion
is ‘bound’ (forbidden) or ‘loosed’ {allowed). Of the household of God Peter is
controller (the keys symbolize this, cf. Is. 22:22). In that capacity, he is to
exercise the disciplinary power of admitting or excluding those he thinks fit;
he will also, in the administration of the community, make necessary decision
in questions of doctrinal belief and of moral conduct. The verdicts he deliver
or the pronouncements he makes will be ratified by God i heaven. Catholic
exegetes maintain that these enduring promises hold good not only for Peter
himself but also for Peter’s successors. This inference, not explicitly drawn
in the text, is considered legitimate because Jesus plainly intends to provide
for his Church’s future by establishing a regime that will not collapse after
Peter’s death. Two other texts, Lk. 22:31f and Jn. 21:15f, on Peter’s primacy
emphasize that its operation is to be in the domain of faith; they also
indicate that this makes him head not only of the Church after the death of
Christ but of the apostolic group then and there.”
2.
Jn 20:23 - For those whose sins you forgive,
they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained.
Title 2 is: “Prayer in common”
Verse 19 says: ‘I tell you solemnly once again, if
two of you on earth agree to ask anything at all, it will be granted to you by
my Father in heaven.
Parallel texts are:
1.
Mt 7:7-8 - Ask,
and it will be given to you; search and you will find; knock and the door will
be opened to you(v.7). For the one who asks, always receives;
and the one who searches, always finds; the one who knocks will always have the
door opened to him (v. 8).
2. Jn
15:7,16 - If you remain in me and my
words remain in you, you may ask what you will and you shall get it (v. 7).
d You did not chose me, no. I chose you; and I commissioned you to go out
and bear fruit, fruit that will last; and then the Father will give you
anything you ask him in my name (v. 16). Footnote d says “Var. ‘and so prove to be my disciples’. In this way the Father is
‘glorified in the Son’, 14:13. Cf. 21:19.”
Verse 20 says: For where
two or three meet in my name, I shall be there with him.
Parallel texts are:
1. Mt
28:20…and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you. And know that I am
with you always; yes, to the end of time.
2. 1
Co 5:4 - When you are assembled together
in the name of the Lord Jesus,b and I am spiritually present with
you, then with the power of the Lord Jesus he is to be handed over to Satan so
that his sensual body may be destroyed and his spirit saved o the day of te
Lord.e Footnote b says “Var. ‘of our Lord Jesus Christ’.”; and Footnote c says “Not just excommunicated, or expelled from
the community, v. 13, but consigned to Satan to be punished. The punishment,
however, is intended to convert the man: his ‘spirit’, that is his soul, is to
be saved. Cf. 11:30-32.”
The First Reading is taken from Ez 33:7-9.
Verses 7, 8 and 9 say: ‘Son of man, I have
appointed you as sentry to the House of Israel. When you hear a word from my
mouth, warn them in my name. If I say to a wicked man: Wicked wretch, you are
to die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked man to renounce his ways, then
he shall die for his sin, but I will hold you responsible for his death. If,
however, you do warn a wicked man to renounce his ways and repent, and he does
not repent, the he shall die for his sin, but you yourself will have saved your
life.
Parallel text is Ez 3:17-19that says: ‘Son of man,
I have appointed you as sentry to the House of Israel. Whenever you hear a word
from me, warn them in my Name (v. 17). If I say to a wicked man: You are to
die, and you do not warn him to renounce
his evil ways and so live, then he shall die for his sin, but I will hold you
responsible for his death (v. 18). If, however, you do warn a wicked man and he
does not renounce his wickedness and his evil ways, then he shall die for his
sin, but you yourself will have saved your life (v. 19).
The Second Reading is taken from Rm 13:8-10.
Verse 8 says: Avoid
getting into debt, except the debt of mutual love. If you love your fellow men
you have carried out your obligationsc. Footnote c says “Lit. ‘fulfilled the law’-apparently law in general, not only the Mosaic
Law.”
Parallel text of verse is that says:
1.
Mt 22:34-40 - But when the Pharisees heard that
he had silenced the Sadducees, they got together (v. 34) and, to disconcert
him, one of them put a question (v. 35),
“Master, which is the greatest commandment of the Law?” V. 36) Jesus said, “You
must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with
all your mind (v.37). This is the greatest and the first commandment (v.38).
The second resembles it: You must love your neighbor as yourself (v. 39) On
these two commandments hang the whole
law and the prophets also (v. 40).
2. Jn
13:34 - I give you a new commandment:t
love one another; just as I have loved you, you also must love one another.
Footnote t says “The reference
to Christ’s departure, v. 33, (which leads up to the prophecy of Peter’s
denial, vv. 36-38) makes this command, vv. 34-35, a solemn legacy from Christ.
Though enunciated n the Mosaic Law, this precept of love is ‘new’ because sets
the standard so high by telling his followers to love one another as he himself
loved them, and because love is to be the distinguishing mark of the ‘new’ era
which the death of Jesus inaugurates and proclaims to the world.”
3.
Col 3:14 - Over all these clothes, to keep them
together and complete them, put on love.
Verse 9 says:
All the commandments: You shall not commit adultery, you shall not kill, you
shall not steal,d you shall not covet, and so on, are summed up in
this single command: you shall love your neighbore as yourself. Footnote d says “Add
(Vulg.)’you shall not bear false witness’.”; and Footnote e says
“In Lv the ‘neighbor’ was a fellow
countryman, here it is any member of the human family which is made one in
Christ, Ga. 3:28; Mt 25:40.”
Parallel text of verse is that says:
1. Ex
20:13-17 - ‘You shall not kill (v. 13). You
shall not commit adultery (v. 14). You shall
not steal (v. 15). You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor (v.
16). You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your
neighbor’s wife, or his servant, man or woman, or his ox, or his donkey, or
anything that is his (v. 17).’
2. Dt
5:17-21 - bYou shall not kill
(v. 17). You shall not commit adultery (v. 18). You shall not steal (v. 19). You
shall not bear dishonest witness against your neighbor (v. 20). You shall not
covet your neighbor’s wife, you shall not set your heart on his house, his
field, his servant - man or woman - his ox, his donkey or anything that is his
(v. 21). Footnote b says “vv.
17-20 are one verse in the Greek.”
Verse 10 says: Love
is the one thing that cannot hurt your neighbor; that is why it is the answer
to very one of the commandments.f Footnote f says “Lit. ‘that is why love is the law in all its fullness’.”
Parallel texts are:
1.
Lv 19:18 - You must not exact vengeance, nor must
you bear a grudge against the children of your own people. You must love your
neighbor as yourself. I am Yahweh.
2.
Ga 5:14 - since the whole Law is summarized in a
single command: Love your neighbor as yourself.
3.
1 Co 13:4-7 - Love is always patient and kind;
it is never jealous; love is never boastful or conceited; it is never rude or
selfish, it does not take offence, and it is not resentful. Love takes no
pleasure in other people’s sins but delights in the truth; it is always ready
to excuse, to trust, to hope, and to endure whatever comes.
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