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Gospel: Matthew 18: 15-20
Jesus said to his disciples:
“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.
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Some of us cringe at the idea of conflict. We’d rather hold things in, suck it up and keep the peace, than speak the truth. But the Lord reminds us in today’s Gospel that silence isn’t always possible.
Sometimes, we need to talk.
“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone,” Jesus says.
It’s never a matter of if– but when– crucial conversations need to happen.
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Jesus had several such conversations with Peter.
For example, after giving Peter the keys to the kingdom of heaven, Jesus predicts his crucifixion and death, which Peter protests vehemently.
Immediately, the Lord pulls Peter aside, and says, “Get behind me, Satan! You are thinking not as God does but as human beings do.”
A stern rebuke. But Peter humbly accepts his fault and gets back in line.
Jesus and Peter have another crucial conversation after Peter denies knowing Jesus three times. Once the Lord is raised from the dead, he appears to Peter on the shores of Galilee and asks him simply, “Peter do you love me?”
Jesus doesn’t show up to shame Peter; rather, to be reconciled with him, to remind him of the responsibility he bears, and to send him out on mission.
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Like Peter, sometimes we make mistakes. We say or do things that hurt someone we love. And like Jesus, sometimes we’re the one who needs to speak up for the sake of reconciliation.
When these crucial conversations happen, remember the promise of the Lord, who assures us, “Wherever two or three are gathered in my name, I am there in the midst of them.”
The Lord comes to bring us reconciliation and peace, even when it means…
We need to talk.
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Image credits: (1) It’s a God thing (2) Domine, Quo Vadis! Annabale Caracci (3) The Sacred Page