Aug
22
angfrayle on August 22nd, 2008
Matthew 18:15-20 is Matthew’s guidelines for resolving issues involving relationships within the community. He puts it within a context where the discourse of the Lord is on seeking the sheep that strays and forgiving. Fraternal correction may appear to be a touchy matter for anyone who has any experience of community life. But it is a duty of charity for the sinner has inflicted a wound on himself that only a brother/sister can help heal through fraternal correction. From the first reading of the day, we also learn from Ezekiel that it is the work of those who have been baptized to hold the prophetic office of Christ.
Relevant Links
Regaining A Brother Who Has Strayed
Sunday Thoughts: The Church as Agent of ReconciliationThe Work of Reconciliation
Fraternal Correction, True Love and Reconciliation
Guide For Reading
- Compare Matthew 18:15-20 with Luke 17:3 and see how the Lucan passage has been worked on by Matthew.
- Look at the surrounding context and determine the key ideas around which the whole chapter 18 is built.
- From your experience of previous texts, try to break down Matthew 18:15-20 into smaller parts. (Hint: make use of “one or two” and “two or three”)
- Where did you last see the phrase on binding and loosing? What is its significance in the present passage?
- See how verses 15-17 relate with the surrounding passages on the sheep that strays and the parable of forgiveness. What idea is underlined in these passages (including 15-17?)
- Read vv. 19-20 in the light of the last passage about Christ’s presence. If this is to be understood in post-resurrection light, how does it help the understanding of the process in vv. 15-17? How does it shed light on verse 18?
- Put your conclusions together and enumerate at least three important ideas coming from vv. 15-20.
- Check the following references from the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
| Matthew 18:15-20 | Catechism of the Catholic Church |
| Matthew 18:16 | CCC 2472 |
| Matthew 18:18 | CCC 553, 1444 |
| Matthew 18:20 | CCC 1088, 1373 |
Comparing the Readings
The gospel selection has influenced the way the first reading and second readng have been chosen. Ezekiel 33:7-9 is about the prophet’s job of warning people about the need to repent of their sins. The passage in Matthew 18:15 commands the offended brother to “take up the matter between the two of you alone”. The responsorial psalm (Psalm 95:1-2,8-9) reminds the offending party to admit his fault and repent: “If today you hear His voice, harden not your hearts.” The passage from Paul (Romans 13:8-10) puts into perspective the spirit in which fraternal correction is made: Christian love.
See also this article for the way a Father of the Church speaks about fraternal correction as an occassion to heal a brother who by sinning has inflicted a wound on himself.
Suggestions for a Lesson Plan
- One can begin with an experience of a bull session where one is placed in the middle of a circle and those who form the circle tell the one in the middle how he/she has been offensive. Let the participants compare that kind of process with the one in Matthew 18:15-20. One can also start with a simple experience of “fraternal correction” and how it went.
- Augustine’s talks about fraternal correction as an act of charity which when not done is tantamount to a serious sin of omission. Like any act of charity, fraternal correction also requires conversion from the one who does the correcting. Solicit the reaction of the participants to this idea and let the group consider the validity of each reaction (write the reactions on the board)
- Finally, ask the participants to explain how your community of faith can be an effective agent of reconciliation especially among your own members.
- One can also use this illustration from Cerezo to talk about current issues involving the Church, like protests against a bill that legislates in favor of abortion and contraception.
15But if thy brother shall offend against thee, go, and rebuke him between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou shalt gain thy brother.
16And if he will not hear thee, take with thee one or two more: that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may stand.
17And if he will not hear them: tell the church. And if he will not hear the church, let him be to thee as the heathen and publican.
18Amen I say to you, whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven.
19Again I say to you, that if two of you shall consent upon earth, concerning any thing whatsoever they shall ask, it shall be done to them by my Father who is in heaven.
20For where there are two or three gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
15But if thy brother shall offend against thee, go, and rebuke him between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou shalt gain thy brother.
16And if he will not hear thee, take with thee one or two more: that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may stand.
17And if he will not hear them: tell the church. And if he will not hear the church, let him be to thee as the heathen and publican.
18Amen I say to you, whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven.
19Again I say to you, that if two of you shall consent upon earth, concerning any thing whatsoever they shall ask, it shall be done to them by my Father who is in heaven.
20For where there are two or three gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
3Take heed to yourselves. If thy brother sin against thee, reprove him: and if he do penance, forgive him.
15But if thy brother shall offend against thee, go, and rebuke him between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou shalt gain thy brother.
16And if he will not hear thee, take with thee one or two more: that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may stand.
17And if he will not hear them: tell the church. And if he will not hear the church, let him be to thee as the heathen and publican.
18Amen I say to you, whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven.
19Again I say to you, that if two of you shall consent upon earth, concerning any thing whatsoever they shall ask, it shall be done to them by my Father who is in heaven.
20For where there are two or three gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
15But if thy brother shall offend against thee, go, and rebuke him between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou shalt gain thy brother.
16And if he will not hear thee, take with thee one or two more: that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may stand.
17And if he will not hear them: tell the church. And if he will not hear the church, let him be to thee as the heathen and publican.
18Amen I say to you, whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven.
19Again I say to you, that if two of you shall consent upon earth, concerning any thing whatsoever they shall ask, it shall be done to them by my Father who is in heaven.
20For where there are two or three gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
16And if he will not hear thee, take with thee one or two more: that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may stand.
18Amen I say to you, whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven.
20For where there are two or three gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
7So thou, O son of man, I have made thee a watchman to the house of Israel: therefore thou shalt hear the word from my mouth, and shalt tell it them from me.
8When I say to the wicked: O wicked man, thou shalt surely die: if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked man from his way: that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but I will require his blood at thy hand.
9But if thou tell the wicked man, that he may be converted from his ways, and he be not converted from his way: he shall die in his iniquity: but thou hast delivered thy soul.
15But if thy brother shall offend against thee, go, and rebuke him between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou shalt gain thy brother.
1Come let us praise the Lord with joy: let us joyfully sing to God our saviour.
2Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving; and make a joyful noise to him with psalms.
8Today if you shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts:
9As in the provocation, according to the day of temptation in the wilderness: where your fathers tempted me, they proved me, and saw my works.
8Owe no man any thing, but to love one another. For he that loveth his neighbour, hath fulfilled the law.
9For Thou shalt not commit adultery: Thou shalt not kill: Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness: Thou shalt not covet: and if there be any other commandment, it is comprised in this word, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
10The love of our neighbour worketh no evil. Love therefore is the fulfilling of the law.
15But if thy brother shall offend against thee, go, and rebuke him between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou shalt gain thy brother.
16And if he will not hear thee, take with thee one or two more: that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may stand.
17And if he will not hear them: tell the church. And if he will not hear the church, let him be to thee as the heathen and publican.
18Amen I say to you, whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven.
19Again I say to you, that if two of you shall consent upon earth, concerning any thing whatsoever they shall ask, it shall be done to them by my Father who is in heaven.
20For where there are two or three gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
CCC 2472
¶2472 The duty of Christians to take part in the life of the Church impels them to act as witnesses of the Gospel and of the obligations that flow from it. This witness is a transmission of the faith in words and deeds. Witness is an act of justice that establishes the truth or makes it known.
All Christians by the example of their lives and the witness of their word, wherever they live, have an obligation to manifest the new man which they have put on in Baptism and to reveal the power of the Holy Spirit by whom they were strengthened at Confirmation.
CCC 553,1444
¶553 Jesus entrusted a specific authority to Peter: "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." The "power of the keys" designates authority to govern the house of God, which is the Church. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, confirmed this mandate after his Resurrection: "Feed my sheep." The power to "bind and loose" connotes the authority to absolve sins, to pronounce doctrinal judgements, and to make disciplinary decisions in the Church. Jesus entrusted this authority to the Church through the ministry of the apostles and in particular through the ministry of Peter, the only one to whom he specifically entrusted the keys of the kingdom.
¶1444 In imparting to his apostles his own power to forgive sins the Lord also gives them the authority to reconcile sinners with the Church. This ecclesial dimension of their task is expressed most notably in Christ's solemn words to Simon Peter: "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." "The office of binding and loosing which was given to Peter was also assigned to the college of the apostles united to its head."
CCC 1088,1373
¶1088 "To accomplish so great a work" - the dispensation or communication of his work of salvation - "Christ is always present in his Church, especially in her liturgical celebrations. He is present in the Sacrifice of the Mass not only in the person of his minister, 'the same now offering, through the ministry of priests, who formerly offered himself on the cross,' but especially in the Eucharistic species. By his power he is present in the sacraments so that when anybody baptizes, it is really Christ himself who baptizes. He is present in his word since it is he himself who speaks when the holy Scriptures are read in the Church. Lastly, he is present when the Church prays and sings, for he has promised 'where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them."'
¶1373 "Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us," is present in many ways to his Church: in his word, in his Church's prayer, "where two or three are gathered in my name," in the poor, the sick, and the imprisoned, in the sacraments of which he is the author, in the sacrifice of the Mass, and in the person of the minister. But "he is present . . . most especially in the Eucharistic species."
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