Homily for the Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
7 September 2014
7 September 2014
When
I was in the seminary, there was a phrase thrown around that we dreaded
hearing: fraternal correction.
We
hated hearing it because it often brought up one of two things: Either that
person was going to nit-pic about something that you were doing that was
annoying them, or they would give you their opinion on how they did something
would be better if you did it their way.
And
while our First Reading and Gospel quite poignantly remind us of the idea of
fraternal correction, it is not something that is easy to do – especially in
our society today.
Fraternal
correction is not just telling someone that they’re doing something wrong,
making them feel bad, and walking away. No, that’s bullying, and we must NEVER
do that – no matter how old we are.
Rather,
fraternal correction is just that: Correcting someone’s thoughts, speech or
actions within the realm of our relationship with Jesus Christ. It’s a duty
that is not just up to the priest to do in the confessional, but is an
obligation for each and every Christian to perform. Pope-Emeritus Benedict XVI
reminds us: “Correcting the behaviors of those gone astray is an essential
part of [the] Christian life. . . . If a fraternal correction is rebuffed, then
Christians should follow the advice of Jesus – seek the witness of others and,
if necessary, the sanctification of the wider Church.”
It’s
important that we hold people accountable for their actions, just as it’s
important for us to be held accountable for our own actions. It’s important
that we understand that we must answer Cain’s eternal question that, yes, we
are our brothers’ keeper.
It’s
essential that we recognize our Christian duty to inform our family and friends
when they are living lives contrary to the Gospel. And we do so not because of
our own moral superiority, but we perform fraternal correction because we know
the struggles sin and temptation put before us, and the support we need of each
other in order to make it in this life.
Yet,
again, it’s a very difficult thing to do, the fraternal correction. It’s
difficult because our societal mentality is that of, “If I’m not hurting anyone
by my actions, or someone else is not hurting another because of their actions,
who am I to judge or say anything?”. In society’s opinion, whatever I do is for
my own good. I’m looking out for me, for my good. If it’s good for me, and not
harming anyone else, then whatever I’m doing / saying / thinking is okay.
It’s
because of this mentality that Jesus asks us to do the difficult thing. Yet, it’s
because of this difficulty that Jesus calls us to rise up to the occasion. It’s
because of this difficulty that Jesus encourages us.
Remember:
There is no such thing as a private sin.
All of our thoughts, words, and actions have consequences. What may be fine for
one person, “because it’s not hurting anybody”, can actually cause grave
scandal to another person. And just because someone “is a good person” doesn’t
give us or them a blank check to do whatever the heck they want!
God
didn’t create us to be good; He created us to be holy.
Saint
Dionysius once said, “The highest of all Divine works is to cooperate in the
salvation of souls.” Fraternal correction is our
cooperation in the salvation of souls, for it helps people understand that they’re
not made just to be “good”, but they’re created to be “holy”!
How,
then, do we call people – especially our family and friends – to holiness? We
encourage them not to cohabitate before marriage. We ask them to recognize the
dignity of the human person from conception to natural death. We ask them to
uphold the gift of human sexuality, and not to reduce it to the desires of
temptation and lust that are wanton in our nature. We help them to recognize
the Divine plan found in marriage, and the proper roles and duties of the
family found therein. We ask them to come to Mass with us, to discover or
rediscover a relationship with Jesus Christ. We assist others in seeing the
consequences of their actions through the eyes and heart of faith. And, in some
ways, we thrust before them the call not simply to be “good”, but the vocation
to be “holy”.
G.K.
Chesterton is famously known for have saying, “The Christian ideal has not
been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult, and left untried.”
And so, it’s due to the difficult vocation of the Christian that we shy away
from true fraternal correction. It is because fraternal correction takes us out
of our comfort zone that we would rather people wallow in the depths of sin
rather than climb the mountain of God’s grace. Pope-Emeritus Benedict XVI once
again reminds us, “The world promises you comfort, but you were not made for
comfort. You were made for greatness.”
This
greatness only comes to fruition when we strive for holiness – not just our
own, but in the vocation of the salvation of souls, of being our brothers’
keeper. The reception of the Eucharist today should not only bring our lives
more into conformity with Christ’s, but should give us the grace, strength, and
courage to fulfill our vocation to call others to a life of holiness. The
Eucharist isn’t just something that is good; He’s someone that’s holy, and our
receiving of the Holy One should be the impetus that changes our lives and the
lives of others.
Fraternal
correction is not an easy thing, but it’s a necessary thing. It’s not easy
because anything worth-while in this life is never going to be easy. And yet,
it’s necessary, because we want to be in heaven with those whom we love. And
each of us, desiring Heaven, should never settle for being comfortable, for
simply being “good”. Rather, we strive for greatness, we struggle to be holy.
And because we love them, we practice fraternal correction, not simply because
of the fear of the consequences of their sin, but for the hope of the
consequences of being found great and holy in the eyes of God.
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Enjoy the journey . . .
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