This weekend, the Church celebrates the Twenty Third Sunday of Ordinary Time and today’s Gospel reading comes from Matthew 18:15-20. This passage concerns how to deal with disciples who have sinned: first, they are to be reprimanded in private, then with one or two witnesses present, and then by the Church, and if they will not listen even to the Church they are to be treated like Gentiles. We cannot let our brothers and sisters continue to sin and by pointing out the areas they should fix under the authority of the Church, the sinner gets the opportunity to repent. When Jesus called Peter His “Rock”, the Church He mentioned was the universal Church, but the Church He mentions here is the local Church. Sometimes, the local church must excommunicate its members to prevent the poison of sin from infecting its other members. It also gives the excommunicated member a chance to repent and begin anew. Jesus gave the power to forgive sins to His Apostles, who in turn passed this power to their successors: the bishops and the priests they ordain. During Confession, the priest must decide whether the believer is truly contrite and intends to not sin again and avoid occasions of sin. Jesus once said that where two or three people are gathered to pray, He is among them. The teachers in His time said that God was present among two people who discuss the Law together, so Jesus was revealing His divine nature here. Jesus is not only present in the person of the priest, but even more in the liturgical prayers of the Church, such as at Mass, during Baptism, in Confession, and in the communal prayers. The liturgy makes our prayers more efficacious.
「Spiritual Talk」Twenty Third Sunday of Ordinary Time – Fr. Anthony Ho
