Wednesday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time, Yr 1 2025 Spanish

Title

Unity Means Reconciliation

Outline

God desires people to live in unity and love. Now love is seeking the good of the other, as Thomas Aquinas said, not a feeling. So what does one do if there is disunity and a lack of love. That is, what does one do when a brother or sister sins? You try to restore unity and love. You try to win the brother or sister. Now this is a general process and there are situations in which you must skip steps. If someone has tried to murder you or has sexually abused you, you do not go to them one on one.

But generally you first try to talk it over with the brother or sister. Perhaps they listen and say, “You are right. I am sorry.” Or perhaps when they explain their side you say, “Oh, now I see. I was interpreting your actions wrongly. I am sorry.” In either case there is unity and love. Perhaps you do not agree, so you get some good people who ask questions so that they have the facts on what happened. That clarification may lead to unity. Or the other might say, “Yes, I poured gasoline on his car and set it on fire, but I had a right to do that for he kept parking it in front of my house.” Then you tell it to the church, which might mean wise leaders such as priests or the bishop in case of serious offenses, for they in particular have the power to bind and loose. This is no small power, for Jesus gave it to the apostles and their successors and he guides and backs up their decisions. Or in lesser situations it might be a group of wise and spiritual leaders in the parish who prayerfully consider the situation having heard from every person involved. The goal is unity and love, the persuading of the offender. Only if the person is adamant in refusing the wisdom and teaching of the Church do they sadly report to the pastor or does the pastor report to the bishop, “We must excommunicate this person until he or she decides to repent of their evil.” Even then the hope is for repentance.

Please note that none of what I have said says anything about reporting to civil authorities. If sexual or physical abuse is involved, especially of children, report first to the secular authorities and then to the church leaders.

What can we learn from this?

First, Jesus does not want conflict and anger to characterize his church and so he lays out the general process for resolving it.

Second, Jesus’ goal is that anything we do leads to unity and the good of the other in the end. His hope is for repentance not punishment.

Third, Jesus knows that human being have free will and that some choose evil and will not repent. He wants us to speak truth to such people and say, “You are living like an unbeliever and not following Jesus, so we will not allow you to receive communion, for it would poison you to come into contact with Jesus in such a state.”

May God guides us to become better and better at dealing with conflict so that we become people who grow unity and love among us.