CARRYING ONE ANOTHER

August 11, Wednesday

 NINETEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

 

      God shows to Moses the land he had promised to his people. They will enter and occupy it under the leadership of Joshua.

      What if my brother or sister goes astray? One of the most difficult and delicate tasks is to bring a brother or sister back when he or she errs.  It is a duty, but one that requires courage and at the same time much tact, the right moment and the right disposition on both sides. It is my concern, because he or she is my brother or sister, vulnerable as I am, and wounded.

 

First Reading: Deuteronomy 34:1-12

Moses climbed from the Plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, the peak of Pisgah facing Jericho. God showed him all the land from Gilead to Dan, all Naphtali, Ephraim, and Manasseh; all Judah reaching to the Mediterranean Sea; the Negev and the plains which encircle Jericho, City of Palms, as far south as Zoar.

Then and there God said to him, “This is the land I promised to your ancestors, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob with the words ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I’ve let you see it with your own eyes. There it is. But you’re not going to go in.”

Moses died there in the land of Moab, Moses the servant of God, just as God said. God buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth Peor. No one knows his burial site to this very day.

Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eyesight was sharp; he still walked with a spring in his step. The People of Israel wept for Moses in the Plains of Moab thirty days. Then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses came to an end.

Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. The People of Israel listened obediently to him and did the same as when God had commanded Moses.

No prophet has risen since in Israel like Moses, whom God knew face-to-face. Never since has there been anything like the signs and miracle-wonders that God sent him to do in Egypt, to Pharaoh, to all his servants, and to all his land—nothing to compare with that all-powerful hand of his and all the great and terrible things Moses did as every eye in Israel watched.

 

Gospel: Matthew 18:15-20

Jesus said, “If a fellow believer hurts you, go and tell him—work it out between the two of you. If he listens, you’ve made a friend. If he won’t listen, take one or two others along so that the presence of witnesses will keep things honest, and try again. If he still won’t listen, tell the church. If he won’t listen to the church, you’ll have to start over from scratch, confront him with the need for repentance, and offer again God’s forgiving love.

 “Take this most seriously: A yes on earth is yes in heaven; a no on earth is no in heaven. What you say to one another is eternal. I mean this. When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action. And when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I’ll be there.”

 

Prayer

God of mercy and compassion,
your Son Jesus Christ has brought us together
as a community of sinners
that knows that you have pardoned us.
When our weaknesses threaten our unity,
remind us of our responsibility for one another.
Let your unifying Spirit give us the strength
to care for one another
and to do all we can to remain
a living, forgiving and welcoming community
where we keep meeting in the name of Jesus,
our Lord, now and for ever. Amen.

 

Reflection:

Have mercy on me, a sinner!

Being a Christian is not a private, purely personal affair, although that is the way some people seem to behave. When God asked Cain, “Where is your brother?”, Cain answered, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” The Gospel teaches us that indeed I am responsible for my brothers and sisters.

Nobody is without sin. Before God we are all sinners and in need of forgiveness. All of us. Indeed, Jesus told us not to judge. Fraternal correction is a mark of the love and communion which must reign in the Christian community; it is, rather, a mutual service that we can and must render to one another.

But, we live in a time when exposing scandals and failures through media to the public gains huge subscribers. Today the Word of God reminds us of the need of brotherly correction within the community of believers.

Pope Francis explains that there are two ways of dealing with the wrongs of our brothers and sisters. The World talks about “let justice be served.” It would mean to expose the wrongs and make the offender pay for the damages caused. Explaining today’s gospel, Pope Francis says, the Christian charity reminds us to go beyond the values of the world; because our objective should always be to accompany our brother or sister who is stumbling, to lead him/her back to the life of the community instead of exposing them to the public and to defame them. The first thing to be avoided above all is any clamour in the news and gossips in the community.

The approach is one of sensitivity, prudence, humility and fraternal concern to avoid wounding or killing the them with words. Words too can kill. This process of helping our brethren has another beautiful impact on lives too: It helps us to free ourselves from that bitterness of heart which causes anger or resentment and which leads us to insults and aggression. It’s terrible to see an insult comes from the mouth of a Christian. To insult is not Christian.

Identifying the fault of another, should in fact, remind me that I have likewise made mistakes and I am often wrong. At the beginning of every Mass, we are called before the Lord to recognize that we are sinners and we say: “Have mercy on me, Lord. I am a sinner! I confess to Almighty God my sins”. We are all sinners and in need of the Lord’s forgiveness.

Pope Francis says there are two fundamental attitudes in order to attend the Mass correctly: The first, we are all sinners and the second, God grants his mercy to all. We must always remember this before addressing the other in brotherly correction.

Video available on YouTube: Have mercy on me, a sinner!