Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
It-23 Ħadd matul is-Sena
Ezekie 33:7-9
Thus says the LORD: You, son of man, I have
appointed watchman for the house of Israel
L-Ewwel
Lezzjoni
Qari mill-Ktieb ta' Eżekjel. 33, 7-9
Dan jgħid il-Mulej: "Lilek, o
bniedem, qegħedek għassies ta' dar Iżrael. Meta tisma' minn fommi xi
kelma, għandek twiddibhom f'ismi. Jekk
jien ngħid lill-midneb: "Int tmut
żgur," u int ma tkellmux u ma
twiddibux biex jitlaq triqtu, hu,
il-midneb, imut fi ħżunitu, imma
demmu nfittxu minn idejk. Imma jekk inti twiddeb il-midneb dwar triqtu
biex jerġa' lura minnha u ma jerġax, hu
jmut fi dnubu, imma int
tkun salvajt ħajtek. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej
Responsorial Psalm
PSALM 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9
R. (8) If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;
let us acclaim the rock of our salvation.
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us joyfully sing psalms to him.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us bow down in worship;
let us kneel before the LORD who made us.
For he is our God,
and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
"Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
they tested me though they had seen my works."
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
"Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
they tested me though they had seen my works."
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Salm
Responsorjali
Salm 94 (95)
R/ Isimgħu leħen il-Mulej u la
twebbsux qalbkom.
Ejjew, ħa nfaħħru bl-hena l-Mulej,
ħa ngħajtu bil-ferħ lill-blata tas-salvazzjoni tagħna!
Nersqu quddiemu b'għana ta' radd il-ħajr,
ngħannulu b'għajat ta' ferħ. R/
Ejjew inqimuh u ninxteħtu quddiemu,
għarkubbtejna quddiem il-Mulej li ħalaqna!
Għaliex hu Alla tagħna,
u aħna l-poplu tal-mergħa tiegħu u n-nagħaġ tiegħu. R/
Mhux li kontu illum tisimgħu leħnu!
"La twebbsux qalbkom bħal f'Meriba,
bħal dakinhar f'Massa, fid-deżert,
meta ġarrbuni u ttantawni missirijietkom,
għalkemm raw dak li jien għamilt." R/
Romans 13:8-10
Brothers and sisters: Owe nothing to
anyone, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled
the law. The commandments, "You shall not commit adultery; you shall not kill; you shall not steal; you shall not covet, " and
whatever other commandment there may be,
are summed up in this saying, namely, "You shall love your neighbor as
yourself." Love does no evil to the neighbour; hence, love is the fulfillment
of the law. This is the Word of the Lord.
It-Tieni
Lezzjoni
Qari mill-Ittra lir-Rumani 13, 8-10
Ħuti, tkunu obbligati lejn ħadd ħlief li tħobbu lil xulxin. Kull min
iħobb ikun iħares il-bqija tal-Liġi. Għax il-Kmandamenti: "La tagħmilx adulterju, la toqtolx, la
tisraqx, la tkunx rgħib," u kull
preċett ieħor, hu liema hu, kollha jinġabru f'kelma waħda: "Ħobb il- proxxmu tiegħek bħalek
inifsek." L-imħabba ma tagħmilx deni lill-proxxmu; mela l-imħabba hi l-milja tal-Liġi. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej
Gospel
MATTHEW 18:15-20
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 won over your brother. If he does not listen, take
one or two others along with you, so that 'every fact may be established on the
testimony of two or three witnesses.' If he refuses to listen to them, tell the
church. If he refuses to listen even to the church, then treat him as you would
a Gentile or a tax collector. Amen, 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, amen, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything
for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. For
where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of
them." This is the Word of the Lord.
Evanġelju
Qari skond San Mattew 18, 15-20
F'dak iż-żmien, Ġesu' qal lid-dixxipli tiegħu: "Jekk ħuk jaqa' f'xi
dnub, mur sibu waħdu u widdbu. Jekk jisma' minnek, tkun irbaħt lura lil ħuk. Jekk
ma jismax, erġa' mur u ħu miegħek weħed
jew tnejn oħra, biex kull ma jingħad jissaħħaħ bil-kelma ta' żewġ xhieda jew
tlieta. Jekk imbagħad anqas minnhom ma jkun irid jisma', mur għid lill-knisja. U
jekk anqas mill-knisja ma jkun irid jisma' żommu b'wieħed pagan jew pubblikan. Tassew
ngħidilkom, li kull ma torbtu fuq l-art ikun
marbut fis-sema, u kull ma tħollu fuq l-art ikun maħlul fis-sema. Ngħidilkom ukoll li jekk tnejn
minnkom fuq l-art jgħollu leħinhom flimkien biex jitolbu xi ħaġa, Missieri li
hu fis-smewwiet, jagħtihielom. Għax fejn tnejn jew tlieta jkunu miġbura f'ismi hemm
inkun jien f'nofshom." Il-Kelma
tal-Mulej
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The
Duty of Fraternal Correction
Gospel Commentary
by Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM Cap, Pontifical Household Preacher
In the Gospel this Sunday we read: “Jesus said
to his disciples: ‘If your brother sins, go and admonish him privately; if he
listens to you, you have gained your brother.’”
Jesus speaks of all sins; he does not restrict the field to sins
committed against us. In this latter sort of case, it is hard to know whether
what moves us is zeal for truth or our own wounded pride. In any case, it would
be more of a self-defense than a fraternal correction. When the sin is against
us, the first duty is not correction but forgiveness.
Why does Jesus say to admonish your brother
privately? Above all, this injunction has respect for your brother’s good name,
his dignity in view.
The worst thing would be to want to correct
a husband in the presence of his wife or a wife in the presence of her husband,
a father in front of his children, a teacher in front of pupils, or a superior
in the presence of inferiors; in other words, in the presence of those whose
esteem is important for the person in question? The situation will soon become
a public trial. It would be very difficult for the person to accept the
correction well. His dignity would be compromised.
Jesus says that the admonishment should
take place privately to give the person the chance to defend himself and
explain his actions in complete freedom. Many times what appears to an outside
observer to be a sin is not in the intention of the person who committed it. A
frank explanation clears up many misunderstandings. But this is no longer
possible when the person is publicly redressed and the incident brought to the
awareness of others.
When, for whatever reason, fraternal
correction is not possible in private, there is something that must never be
done in its place, and that is to divulge, without good reason, one’s brother’s
fault, to speak ill of him or, indeed, to calumniate him, proposing as fact
something that is not, or exaggerating the fault. “Do not speak ill of one
another,” Scripture says (James 4:11). Gossip is not something innocent; it is
ugly and reprehensible.
A woman once went to St. Philip Neri for
confession, accusing herself of bad-mouthing people. The saint absolved her but
gave her a strange penance. He told her to go home, get a hen and come back,
plucking the bird’s feathers as she walked along the street. When she had
returned to him he said: “Now go back home and, as you go, pick up each feather
that you plucked on the way.” The woman told him that it would be impossible
since the wind had almost certainly blown them away in the meantime. But St.
Philip was prepared: “You see,” he said, “just as it is impossible to pick up
the feathers once the wind has scattered them, it is likewise impossible to
gather gossip and calumnies back up once they have come out of our mouth.”
Returning to the theme of the correction,
we should say that the good outcome of the correction does not always depend on
us; despite our best intentions, the other may not accept the correction, he
may harden. But this can be compensated for: When we ourselves are corrected,
the good outcome does depend on us! Indeed, I could very well be the person who
“who has sinned” and the “corrector” could easily be someone else: husband,
wife, friend, confrere or father superior.
In sum, there is not only active correction
but passive correction; there is not only the duty to correct but the duty to
allow yourself to be corrected. And it is precisely here that we can see
whether someone is mature enough to correct others. Whoever wants to correct
someone must be ready, in turn, to be corrected. When you see someone accept an
observation and you hear him or her answer with simplicity: “You are right.
Thanks for letting me know!” Doff your cap because you are in the presence of a
true man or true woman.
Christ’s teaching about fraternal
correction must always be read together with what he says on another occasion:
“Why do you regard the speck in your brother’s eye and ignore the bean in your
own? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’
when you do not see the beam that is in yours” (Luke 6:41)?
What Jesus has taught us about correction
can be very useful in raising children too. Correction is one of the parent’s
fundamental duties. “What son is not disciplined by his father?” Scripture says
(Hebrews 12:7); and again: “Straighten the little plant while it is still young
if you do not want it to be permanently crooked.” Completely renouncing every
form of correction is one of the worst things that you can do to your children
and unfortunately it very common today.
You must simply take care that the correction
itself does not become an accusation or a criticism. In correcting you should
just stick to reproving the error that was committed; don’t generalize it and
reproach everything about the child and his conduct. Instead, use the
correction to point out all the good things that you see in the child and how
you expect much better from him, in such away that the correction becomes
encouragement rather than disqualification. This was the method that St. John
Bosco used with children.
It is not easy in individual cases to know
whether it is better to correct something or let it go, speak or be silent.
This is why it is important to remember the Golden Rule, valid in all cases,
that St. Paul
You must make sure above all that in your
heart there is a fundamental disposition of welcome toward other persons. If
you have this, then whatever you do, whether you correct or remain silent, you
will be doing the right thing, because love “does evil to no one.”
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