From: Matthew 18:15-20

Fraternal Correction. The Apostles’ Authority

(Jesus said to His disciples), [15] “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. [16] But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with
you, that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnes-
ses. [17] 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.
[18] 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. [19] Again I say to
you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it shall be done for
them by My Father in Heaven. [20] For where two or three are gathered in My
name, there am I in the midst of them.”

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Commentary:

15-17. Here our Lord calls on us to work with Him for the sanctification of others
by means of fraternal correction, which is one of the ways we can do so. He
speaks as sternly about the sin of omission as He did about that of scandal (cf.
Chrysostom, “Hom. on St. Matthew”, 61).

There is an obligation on us to correct others. Our Lord identifies three stages
in correction: 1) alone; 2) in the presence of one or two witnesses; and 3) before
the Church. The first stage refers to giving scandal and to secret or private sins;
here correction should be given privately, just to the person himself, to avoid un-
necessarily publicizing a private matter and also to avoid hurting the person and
to make it easier for him to mend his ways. If this correction does not have the
desired effect, and the matter is a serious one, resort should be had to the se-
cond stage—looking for one or two friends, in case they have more influence on
him. The last stage is formal judicial correction by reference to the Church au-
thorities. If a sinner does not accept this correction, he should be excommuni-
cated; that is, separated from communion with the Church and Sacraments.

18. This verse needs to be understood in connection with the authority previous-
ly promised to Peter (cf. Matthew 16:13-19): it is the hierarchy of the Church
that exercises this power given by Christ to Peter, to the Apostles and their law-
ful successors — the Pope and the Bishops.

19-20. “Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est: where charity and love resides, there
God is”, the Holy Thursday liturgy intones, drawing its inspiration from the sa-
cred text of 1 John 4:12. For it is true that love is inconceivable if there is only
one person: it implies the presence of two or more (cf. Aquinas, “Commentary
on St. Matthew”, 18:19-20). And so it is that when Christians meet together in
the name of Christ for the purpose of prayer, our Lord is present among them,
pleased to listen to the unanimous prayer of His disciples: “All those with one
accord devoted themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the
mother of Jesus” (Acts 1:14). This is why the Church from the very beginning
has practiced communal prayer (cf. Acts 12:5). There are religious practices—
few, short, daily “that have always been lived in Christian families and which I
think are marvelous—grace at meals, morning and night prayers, the family ro-
sary (even though nowadays this devotion to our Lady has been criticized by
some people). Customs vary from place to place, but I think one should always
encourage some acts of piety which the family can do together in a simple and
natural fashion” (St. J. Escriva, “Conversations”, 103).

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

Mass Readings

First reading	Ezekiel 9:1-7,10:18-22 ©

As I, Ezekiel, listened, God shouted, ‘Come here, you scourges of the city, and bring your weapons of destruction.’ Immediately six men advanced from the upper north gate, each holding a deadly weapon. In the middle of them was a man in white, with a scribe’s ink horn in his belt. They came in and halted in front of the bronze altar. The glory of the God of Israel rose off the cherubs where it had been and went up to the threshold of the Temple. He called the man in white with a scribe’s ink horn in his belt and said, ‘Go all through the city, all through Jerusalem, and mark a cross on the foreheads of all who deplore and disapprove of all the filth practised in it.’ I heard him say to the others, ‘Follow him through the city, and strike. Show neither pity nor mercy; old men, young men, virgins, children, women, kill and exterminate them all. But do not touch anyone with a cross on his forehead. Begin at my sanctuary.’ So they began with the old men in front of the Temple. He said to them, ‘Defile the Temple; fill the courts with corpses, and go.’ They went out and hacked their way through the city.

The glory of the Lord came out from the Temple threshold and paused over the cherubs. The cherubs spread their wings and rose from the ground to leave, and as I watched the wheels rose with them. They paused at the entrance to the east gate of the Temple of the Lord, and the glory of the God of Israel hovered over them. This was the creature that I had seen supporting the God of Israel beside the river Chebar, and I was now certain that these were cherubs. Each had four faces and four wings and what seemed to be human hands under their wings. Their faces were just as I had seen them beside the river Chebar. Each moved straight forward.

Psalm	Psalm 112:1-6

Gospel	Matthew 18:15-20 ©

Jesus said, ‘If your brother does something wrong, go and have it out with him alone, is between your two selves. If he listens to you, you have won back your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you: the evidence of two or three witnesses is required to sustain any charge. But if he refuses to listen to these, report it to the community; and if he refuses to listen to the community, treat him like a pagan or a tax collector.

‘I tell you solemnly, whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.

‘I tell you solemnly once again, if two of you on earth agree to ask anything at all, it will be granted to you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three meet in my name, I shall be there with them.’