Ez. 33:7-9; Ps 95:1-2, 6-9; Rom. 13:8-10; Mt. 18:15-20
Love fulfills the law! The law of love is the practice of truth, Godly truth. Today we hear that the law of love also carries a responsibility not only for our actions but to address the actions of the one we love. God says “I will hold you responsible” not for the sins of another but for having remained silent and not warned “the wicked from his ways”. God did not come to be a god of convenience but went about speaking truth to power. He backed up what he said with the power of his word.
In God’s world there is no “safe space” to practice sin and we are all called to be a voice for righteousness. It is our sacramental duty to speak up against sin, to evangelize for Godly truth, to be a witness of faith by our very actions and yes, there will be repercussions, rejection, attack, and persecutions of every kind “but you shall save yourself”. The voice of Godly truth is spoken with and through love that fulfills the law without compromise to the truth.
The practice of the law of love comes with the duty to warn and it begins in the home called to be a domestic church. The duty to warn however also requires the duty to love. We are to hold onto the principle that the means does not justify the ends. We cannot yell, threaten, or impose unjust punishment to gain compliance against the will of the other. The Lord invites us to come to him and receive from him what is good, pleasing and perfect in his kingdom. To inherit the kingdom of God is not an entitlement where all get to go to heaven. We should never assume or take for granted God’s love, his mercy, or ignore his justice. To be a law there must be truth and justice that underlies all love of God.
The duty to warn must also reflect Godly love as well as Godly truth. How often do we come to church knowing one of the family remained at home with no interest in giving to God of themselves an act of thanksgiving, with no desire to receive God’s body and blood and gain his holiness, with no sense of guilt for having offended God by rejecting him in the sacramental life of the church? What are we to do? We love, we pray and we invite not once but always.
Godly truth and Godly love are both one and the same reflection of God. It is better to say, “I pray that you will join me in going to church” than to keep repeating “missing church is a sin” when the baptized Christian already knows the truth. It is better to speak of how we can “love them both” when speaking of abortion than to argue about the legality of personhood where we are able to do something about the former and not simply debate the latter. Godly love is an invitation to dialogue in Godly truth and not to turn Godly truth into a weapon against the sinner.
The duty to warn is an act of love delivered with God’s love and mercy. This is how we are to love others as we love ourselves with the same sensitivity as a child of God. This is how we witness to others when we avoid sin in our own lives and humbly acknowledge when we have failed to love. We want others to desire what we have “Oh that you would hear his voice” and “harden not your hearts”. The sign of God’s love in us is joy and peace in the midst of hardship, still giving of ourselves from the goodness we have received. The cheerful giver is not one without troubles but one whose troubles don’t define their state of being grateful to God.
In the gospel today, Jesus is speaking to his disciples giving them instructions on how to be a servant leader. Jesus describes a process of gradual intervention we often refer to as subsidiarity where matters are handled beginning at the lowest level before progressing to higher authority.
The principle of subsidiarity is that individuals should have the courage to face each other and speak to the issue that divides them. It is so tempting to avoid the person or the issue directly with the one involved and go to our friend, family, or neighbor to complain about them. The excuse given is “I tried but they won’t listen” so we give up. We never take the next step which is to seek support from someone else who sees what you see or maybe even experiences the same issues and can both speak to the problem. Instead, we remain silent even feeling isolated with our own dilemma.
Today, Jesus is reminding us “where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” When we come together in prayer and deed the power of the word is granted by Jesus as he promised “there am I in the midst of them.” If Jesus is with us who can be against us? Jesus also comes to us through his church who has been given authority to “bind” and to “loosen”. Jesus was entrusting his disciples to remain united as one Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.
The Church is in the midst of a Synodal process coming together as a universal church around the world. Its mission is to pray and listen to the call of God in the Son and through the Holy Spirit with the power to bind and to loosen. Some are fearful that it may unleash a “pandora’s box” fearful of deviating from Catholic doctrine while others are hopeful for change within the church.
Pope Francis keeps calling for “dialogue”. When love fulfills the law, it stands for truth and justice not according to our will but to the will of God. The law of love must then be attentive to the voice of God not with any new revelation but with the confirmation that love is an organic process that deepens us in God’s truth and does not contradict itself. God is not a contradiction and neither is the law of love.
Jesus reminds us that love binds and loosens the spirit of the law as we discern what is good, pleasing, and prefect for the will of God. God’s will is to fill us with his graces that we may be in his glory for all eternity. The duty to warn is simply the opposite side of the same coin calling others into God’s loving hands. Those we love we warn and we embrace with our prayers for even greater conversion for both them and us.
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