Gospel

‘If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.’
Matthew 18:15–20

At that time: 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 gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, 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 I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.’

The Gospel of the Lord

Hearts of Reparation

The Good Shepherd goes out in search of the lost sheep, and today Jesus teaches us that we too must go out to meet them. All the baptised are members of one Body, the Body of Christ, which is the Church. Saint Paul says: “If one member suffers, all suffer with it” (1 Cor 12:26). That is why Jesus does not leave us indifferent to our brother’s sin, but calls us to go in search of him: “If he listens to you, you have won your brother.” When one member is wounded, the whole Body suffers with him. When we physically suffer a wound, millions of platelets silently rush to close it so that the body does not bleed to death. My sin, the sin of my spouse, my children, or any of my brothers and sisters, opens wounds in the Body of Christ, and we, as members of that same Body, are called to run towards them with our prayer, our sacrifice and our love. When we hear about a scandal, or see a brother’s sin, what do we do? Do I judge, criticise, make the wound worse, spread it? We need to pray for the wound that sin has left in the Church. Jesus wants us to be like those platelets that rush to the wound quickly, silently, without making a noise, without attacking, but helping to heal. Christian husbands and wives, who will repair the Heart of Jesus and the Heart of Mary? There is no time to lose! Every act of reparation closes a wound, and every sacrifice strengthens the whole Body. Let us pray, as the little shepherds of Fatima did, the prayer that the Angel taught them: “My God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love You. I ask forgiveness for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love You.”

Applied to Married Life:

Margaret: Have you heard what happened to that couple from the school? It’s dreadful! I have to tell my sister; she won’t believe it…
Liam: Wait, wait. What if instead of telling her, we pray for them?
Margaret: Pray? But we don’t even know them! What they have done is terrible!
Liam: Precisely because of that… They don’t need us to make the wound bigger by talking about them; they need someone to help heal it through prayer.
Margaret: You’re right. I thought there was nothing we could do… but you’re right, we can pray for them tonight.
Liam: “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” So, if we pray together for them, Jesus will make Himself present, and then our little prayer at home will become a bridge between heaven and earth.
Margaret: How beautiful! Here we are praying for them in our sitting room, while they have no idea that someone is praying for their marriage.
Liam: We can also offer our silence to the Lord, choosing not to tell others about it. What do you think?
Margaret: Of course! How many times could we turn our conversations about others into prayers for them!

Mother,
make us little hearts of reparation. Blessed and praised are You!