Wednesday August 16, 2017
Jesus talks about the corrective process to be adopted when a brother or sister has sinned against us. Which part of the corrective process strikes us the most? If it is the part, “if he does not listen to the Church, then regard such a one as a pagan or publican,” then we are missing the point. It reveals more about us than about Jesus.
The point is Jesus gives us quite an elaborate corrective process. First we must ascertain that the person has indeed sinned against us beyond reasonable doubt. Once it is established, then we meet him in private and point out the fault (without condemning the sinner). If that fails, then we take a few trustworthy people who are aware of the offence and are good at dialog. When that too fails, one must appeal to the Church or the elders in faith to resolve the matter. Only after all possibilities of dialog and negotiations are exhausted may we consider the person as an outsider. But coming to think of it, Jesus has also modeled for us how to deal with a pagan or a publican, hasn’t he? There is much to think about, then, as to how best to approach him as a pagan or publican in the way Jesus did!
