September 7, 2008- 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time: Cycle A

Scripture Readings
First: Ezekiel 33:7-9.
Second: Romans 13:8-10.
Gospel: Matthew 18:15-20.

Prepared by: Fr. Stephen Dominic Hayes, OP

1. Subject Matter
• This week's Gospel deals with the problem of what to do with a church member who persists
in sin. Sin is not merely a problem for the individual; it reflects on the whole Church.
Furthermore, the Church herself constitutes the assembly of souls at peace with God; and so
living and peace with the Church as a present sign of ones coming destiny to glory;
conversely, a breach of peace with Holy Church signifies a clear and binding way one‘s
exclusion from peace with God.

2. Exegetical Notes
• First Reading: The JBC notes in this passage, the prophet Ezekiel regards his own mission
as that of a watchman called to warn the people of the sword, which is coming among them
to purify sinners from their midst. His mission is presented as one to individuals, to rescue
them from a life of sin by his own mission, which, whether people repent or do not, will be his
own salvation. In this passage, the prophet is focused on a mission to individuals, since in
his time, the body which is Israel seems doomed. This passage is in stark opposition to the
Gospel, in which Christ promises is saving presence to the church, whatever the assembly is
convoked to a holy purpose. The body of Christ and the body of his bride, Holy Church, are
one.
• Second Reading: In this selection from Romans, Paul echoes the Levitical command to
“love one's neighbor “ (Lv 19:18), preparing us for the authentic interpretation of the Gospel
• Gospel: This Gospel can be divided into two sections, vv. 15-18, and vv. 19-20 respectively.
Some scholars treat next week's Gospel, the parable of the unjust servant, as one unit with
the present section. In verse 15 phrase, "against you", is not found in many important
manuscripts, and modern scholarship has suggested that this phrase has been introduced
under the influence of Matthew 18:21. Thus the present form of text is concerned with the
notion of forgiveness of one's brothers, as well as a more juridical concerns of the description
of the three step process of dealing with the church member who sins.
• In verses 15-18, the apparently juridical procedure described of the progressive approach to
the brother who sins is in fact shaped by the notion of fraternal correction. The first approach
is a personal initiative bind one who witnesses the sin, and its use of the unusual verb
elegxon, seems to suggest a connection to the Septuagint text of Leviticus 19:17-18: "You
shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason with your neighbor, lest you
bear sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge against the sons
of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.” This
reference implies the priestly character of the Christian community, and the necessity of
refusing the sin of a neighbor to infect oneself with sins of self-righteousness, hatred, and
contempt. The holy community must remain holy. If the brother is not won over to righteous
living again by a private approach, then the text suggests an approach in the company of two
or three witnesses; and, if that fails, the surgical intervention of the whole Church by cutting
off the offender from Communion. That the ancient Church used this kind of shunning -a
form of excommunication- is witnessed by one Corinthians 5:1-5; 2 Thessalonians 3: 6-15; 2
John 10. A side note: most of the commentators assume that the “witnesses” are witnessing
to the fact of the warning in the reproof of the erring brother; however, they witness in
another way by manifesting the agreement of the Church in the truth she bears from God,
which is the basis of the reproof to the sinner which is also therefore the reproof of God, not
merely the reproof of men.
• The second section, verses 19 -20, gives a larger context to the preceding passage. The
semi-juridical procedure of verses 15 -18 is placed in the context of Holy Church’s power to
bind and loose in heaven and on earth, a power already given specifically to Peter in 16:19,
and now extended to the assembly as a whole. In the context of 18:15 to 17, that power
seems to concern imposing and lifting of decrees of excommunication, and the power to
forgive or refuse to forgiveness to sinners, according to the measure of their repentance, or
lack thereof. The penalty of breaking Communion formally and publicly, though judicial in
quality ( an idea continued by the use of juridical language such as pragma , Gk: “case” in v.
19) is in fact a loving service of holy Church in the service of attempting to reconcile sinners;
part of that, in the case of the unrepentant sinner, is the public recognition of the sinner’s
break with life and communion with the Church, and hence with Christ, who is one Body with
her.
• “Wherever two or three are gathered in my name..” This text is often applied to the Church
gathered for prayer, but the actual context is in the juridical act of binding and loosing. A
rabbinic tradition, this kind of line that you she appears in the course of the study of the Law
of Moses, : If two sit together and the words of the Law passed between them, the Divine
presence abides between them. m. ‘Abot 3:2. In a Christian context, the Church’s act of
assembly for juridical, and by extension liturgical purposes, invokes the presence of the
risen Lord, and it comes the place where he manifests himself and his will.

3. References to the Catechism of the Catholic Church

• CIC 553: The power "to bind and to loose" connotes the authority to absolve sins, to
pronounce doctrinal judgments, and to make disciplinary decisions in the Church. Jesus
entrusted this authority to the Church through the ministry of the apostles, and in particular
through the ministry of Peter, the only one to whom he specifically entrusted the keys of the
kingdom.
• CIC 1373: "Jesus Christ, who died, yes, who was raised from the dead, who is in the right
hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us," is present in many ways to his Church: in his
word, in his church's prayer, "where two or three are gathered in my name," in the poor, the
sick, and the imprisoned, and the sacraments of which he is author, and the sacrifice of the
Mass, and the person the Minister. But "he is present, most especially in the Eucharistic
species."
• CIC 1444: In imparting to his apostles his own power to forgive sins. The load also gives
them the authority to reconcile sinners with the Church. … "the office of binding and loosing
which it is given to Peter was also assigned to the College of the apostles united to its head."
(Lumen Gentium 22 §2.)
• CIC 1445: The words "bind and loose" mean: whenever you exclude from your communion,
will be excluded from communion with God; whomever you receive a new into your
communion, God will welcome back into his. Reconciliation with the church is inseparable
from reconciliation with God.
• CIC 1469: This sacrament (Penance) reconciles us with the church. Send damages or even
breaks for eternal communion. The Sacrament of pends repairs or restores it. In this sense
it does not simply heal the one restored to ecclesial communion, but also has a revitalizing
effect on the life of the Church which suffered from the sin of one of her members. …
• CIC 2844: … Forgiveness is the fundamental condition of the reconciliation of the children
of God with their Father and of men with one another.
• CIC 2845: … The communion of the holy Trinity is the source and current period of truth in
every relationship. It is lived out in prayer, above all in the Eucharist.
4. Patristic Commentary
• St. John Chrysostom (The Gospel of Matthew, Hom. 60.1): He does not say "excuse him"
or "punish him" or "take him to court." He says "correct him." For he is possessed, as it
were, why some stupor and drunk in his anger and disgrace. The one who is healthy must
go to the one who is sick. You must conduct your judgment of him privately. Make your
turkeys you to accept. For the words "correct him" mean nothing other than help him see his
indiscretion. Tell him what you have suffered from him.
• St. Augustine of Hippo: (Sermon 82.7.): but "if he does not listen" that is, if he chooses to
justify his sin as if it were a just action, "take one or two others along with you, that every
word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses… and if he refuses to
listen to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector." Don't consider him
now in the number of your brothers. But not even so is his salvation to be neglected. For
even the heathen, that is, the Gentiles and the pagans, we do not consider in the number of
our brothers, yet we constantly pray for their salvation.
• Origen (Commentary on Matthew 14.2): Concord occurs in two kinds: first come in
agreement of thought, when two minds think the same ideas (as the apostle called it) and
have the same thoughts. Second, in agreement will, in living similar lives. But since "If two
of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by Jesus’ Father in
heaven,” is something is asked to the father in heaven and is not granted, it is clear that the
two here on earth are not in harmony. The reason why we do not achieve our desires and
prayers is our own fault: we don't agree either in our thoughts were in our way of life.
Besides, if we are the body of Christ … then we must practice the harmony that comes from
 God's music, so that when we are gathered in Christ's name, Christ may be in our midst, who
is God's word and wisdom and power.
• St. Peter Chrysologus (Sermon 132.4-5): Some, however, endeavor to excuse under an
appearance of faiththe idleness that prompts their contempt for assemblies. They omit
participation in the fervor of the assembled congregation and pretend that they have devoted
to prayer the time they have expended upon their household cares. While they give
themselves up to their own desires, they scorn and despise the divine service. These are the
people who destroy the body of Christ. They scatter its members. They do not permit the full
form of its Christlike appearance to develop to its abundant beauty-that form which the
prophet saw and then sang about: "You are beautiful in form among the sons of men."…
there is this difference between the glorious fullness of the congregation and the vanity of
separation that springs of ignorance or negligence: in salvation and honor the beauty of the
whole body is found in the unity of the members. But from the separation of the viscera there
is a foul, fatal and fearful aroma.

5. Examples from the Saints and Other Exemplars

• St.Moses the Black (b. circa A.D. 332) , a monk of Skete, was summoned by the priests and
elders of the monastery to participate in the judgment of a monk who had committed a fault.
He refused to come at first, but the priest of the monster he went to him and insisted he
come. Abba Moses took a basket with a hole in the bottom, filled it with sand, and began to
make his way towards the assembly. When the monks asked the reason for his behavior, he
said, "Here I am with my sins pouring out behind me like sand in this basket, as I come to
judge the errors of my brother." When they heard this, all left the council and went to their
own cells, for none of them could judge that monk.
• In Eusebius’ History of the Church is recounted a narrative of Clement of Alexandria about
John the Apostle in his old age. The apostle had made a convert of a young man, whom he
put in the care of a local bishop to be constructed and confirmed. After confirming him, the
bishop relaxed his guard over the young man, who fell in with bad companions, and
eventually, going from bad to worse, finished as a robber chieftain in the mountains. The
Apostle, returning after much time, done that with horror what had happened to the young
man he had turned from a life of sin, and riding in haste into the mountains, had himself
captured and brought before young robber chief. The young man tried to flee in shame, but
the apostle cried out, ‘Why, my son, dost thou flee from me, thine own father, unarmed,
aged? Pity me, my son; fear not; thou hast still hope of life. I will give account to Christ for
thee. If need be, I will willingly endure thy death as the Lord suffered death for us. For thee
will I give up my life. Stand, believe; Christ hath sent me.’ The young man collapsed in tears,
repentance, and St. John, bringing him back to church, made intercession and penance for
and with him, so that he was restored to Holy Church, “furnishing a great example of true
repentance and a great proof of regeneration, a trophy of a visible resurrection.”

6. Quotes

• Pope Benedict XVI (God and the World ) : Part of the essence of Christianity-and this is
included in the concept of the Church-is that our relationship to God is not just an inner one,
 made up of my “I" and his "Thou," but is also a matter of being spoken to, of being led. A
meeting is part of every path to conversion. The Church is there so that people who have
searched for the door and found it can be in her. Among all the variety of temperaments,
there will be always someone who suits me and who has the right word to say to me. As
human beings we are there so that God can come to people by way of other people. … If we
could lift up ourselves up to the ultimate degree simply by reading Holy Scripture, then this
would be just another philosophical movement, without this element of community that is
such a vital talent in faith.
• Pope Benedict XVI (God and the World ): communion with the Lord is always also
communion with our brothers and sisters… he is the one same Christ was present in the
Eucharistic Bread of every place on Earth. This means that we can encounter him only,
together with all others. We can only receive him in unity… The consequence is clear we
cannot communicate with the Lord of we do not communicate with one another. If we want
to present ourselves to him, we must also take a step towards meeting one another. To do
this, we must learn the great lesson of forgiveness: we must not let the gnawings of
resentment work in our soul, but must open our hearts to the magnanimity of listening to
others, open our hearts to understanding and, eventually to accepting their apologies, to
generously offering our own.
• St. Cyprian of Carthage ( De. Dom. Orat. 23 PL (Migne) 4, 535-536 ): God does not accept
the sacrifice of a sower of disunion, but commands that he depart from the altar so that he
may be reconciled with his brother. For God can be appeased only by prayers that make
peace. To God, the better offering is peace, brotherly concord, and a people made one in
the unity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

7. Other Considerations

• A current application of the need for the reproof of erring Christians is provided in the recent
and very public statement of Catholic teaching by the Speaker of the House, Ms. Pelosi, on
the television program Meet the Press, alleging that early Church Fathers, speciofically St.
Augustine, did not consider abortion a sin during the first three months of pregnancy. In
response of numerous individual bishops, such as bishop Chaput of Denver, of the United
States, as well as the statement published by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops,
provide a current example of the importance of such correction in the method by which it is
employed in the current circumstances of Holy Church in United States.

Recommended Resources
Benedict XVI, Pope. Benedictus: Day by Day with Pope Benedict XVI. Yonkers, Copyright
Ignatius Press/ Magnificat 2006. New York: Magnificat: SAS, 2006.

Brown, Raymond E., S.S., Fitzmeyer, Joseph, S.J., and Murphy, Roland E., O. Carm. The
Jerome Biblical Commentary. Two Vols. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc.,
1968.

Harrington, Daniel J, S.J. The Gospel of Matthew. Sacra Pagina Series, Vol. 1: Daniel J
Harrington, ed. Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1991.
Jurgens, William A. The Faith of the Early Fathers. 3 Vols. Collegeville, Minnesota: The
Liturgical Press, 1979.

Oden, Thomas C., Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture. New Testament, Vol. 1B,
Matthew 14-28. Manlio Simonetti, ed. Downers Grove, IL : Intervarsity Press, (Institute of
Classical Christian Studies), 2002.

Thomas Aquinas, St. Catena Aurea: Commentary on the Four Gospels Collected out of the
Works of the Fathers. Volume III- Pt. II: St. Luke. Albany, N.Y.: Preserving Christian
Publications, Inc., 2001.

Tugwell, Simon, OP., ed. Early Dominicans; Selected Writings. Classics of Western
Spirituality. New York; Ramsey; Toronto : Paulist Press, 1982.