Father Michael's Weekly Reflection

"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." (Mt. 18:15)

This is the 23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time. Christ teaches us fraternal correction. This is an aspect of the Christian life which is both difficult and necessary. The challenge we face today is that instead of bringing the issue to the person themselves we divulge our concerns to others.

There are fundamental dispositions required before we correct someone. First, we must be able to accept correction ourselves. This requires profound humility. The truth is that we each have blind spots. When someone makes them known to me in charity I should listen and take it to prayer. We are all born with original sin and have defects of all sorts. Our main work should be addressing this, which leaves us little time to judge others.

Questions for Reflection:

• Do I divulge others' defects instead of approaching the person?
• When I approach the person, is it with purity of intention and from a place of love?
• If I am willing to give correction, am I willing to receive it?