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HEach of us may be sure that if God sends us on stony paths He will provide us with strong shoes, and He will not send us out on any journey for which He does not equip us well.
- Alexander MacLaren (What "strong shoes" is God
providing for you these days? Give thanks for God's loving providence in your life.) |
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Dt 34:1-12; Ps 66:1-3a, 5 and 8,
16-17 Mt 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." USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Scripture |
When you are offended, are you willing to put aside your own grievance and injury
in order to help your brother's wound? The Lord Jesus wants to set us free from resentment, ill-will, and an unwillingness to forgive. The love of Christ both purifies and sets us free to do good to all - even those who cause us grief. The call to accountability for what we have done and have failed to do is inevitable and we can't escape it, both in this life and at the day of judgment when the Lord Jesus will return. But while we have the opportunity today, we must not give up on praying for
those who cause us offense. With God's help we must seek to make every effort to win them with the grace and power of God's healing love and wisdom. Do you tolerate broken relationships or do you seek to repair them as God gives you the opportunity to mend and restore what is broken? Lord Jesus, make me an instrument of your healing love and peace. Give me wisdom and courage to bring your healing
love and saving truth to those in need of healing and restoration. From DailyScripture.net Presentation Ministries
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-Readings from Jesus Alive in Our Lives, by Philip St. Romain. Ave Maria Press, 1985. Contemplative Ministries, Inc. 2011. Part Two, Encountering the Risen Christ Chapter 4: Christian
Community - Selected quotes To get in touch with some of the primary roots of our theological understanding of the relationship between Christ and the Church, let us recall the
conversion of Paul the Apostle as described in Acts 9. You know the story, I’m sure, but I’ll recap briefly. Paul (then Saul) had been commissioned by the Jewish religious authorities to “clean up the synagogues,” expelling Christians from them and even arresting them, if necessary. While traveling to Damascus (site of a very active community), he was
knocked down by a bright light from heaven. A voice spoke to him, saying, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” “Who are you Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, and you are persecuting me” was the reply.
You know the rest of the story. Saul went on to Damascus and presented himself to the Christian community, where an elder healed him from the blindness that had befallen him with the vision. He tried for awhile to make himself useful to the community, but the response seemed to be, “Don’t call us, we’ll call you.” They took their sweet time about it, too, virtually ignoring him for about
12 years, after which he was called upon to lead missions to Gentile regions.
What did Paul do during those 12 years when he had no authorized ministry?
My guess is that he reflected and prayed and
came to the theological convictions and depth of relationship with Christ that we find evidenced in his writings. Surely he was also a member of a Christian community and maybe even a leader, though only locally. I’m sure he must have thought a great deal about Jesus’ question, “Why do you persecute me?” He must have wondered about how Jesus identified himself with the community of believers so
intimately that to harass them was to harass Jesus. Paperback and eBook versions
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