23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle A

MATTHEW 18:15-20
MY MOTHER CAME FROM A LARGE FAMILY. HER PARENTS WERE FIRST GENERATION AMERICANS, WHOSE OWN PARENTS HAD EMIGRATED FROM GERMANY. THEY WERE VERY ARDENT CATHOLICS, ESPECIALLY MY GRANDMOTHER, WHO IN HER YOUNGER YEARS HAD WANTED TO BECOME A NUN. OF THE TEN CHILDREN WHO SURVIVED INFANCY, NINE REMAINED PRACTICING CATHOLICS THROUGHOUT THEIR LIVES. THERE ARE THREE STILL LIVING, AND I DON'T THINK ANY OF THEM WILL DEFECT IN THE TIME THEY HAVE LEFT. BUT THERE WAS ONE, ONE OF THE YOUNGER ONES, WHO JOINED THE NAVY AND SPENT A GOOD PART OF HIS CAREER FLYING FIGHTER BOMBERS; HE CRASHED FOUR PLANES, AND MARRIED FOUR TIMES DURING THE COURSE OF HIS MILITARY CAREER, AND FINALLY SETTLED DOWN IN CALIFORNIA, DRINKING HARD, SMOKING EVEN HARDER, AND HAVING CONTEMPT FOR ANYONE WHO PRACTICED A RELIGION OF ANY SORT.
IN THE COURSE OF HIS LIFE, HE ALIENATED A LOT OF PEOPLE, EVEN HIS BROTHERS AND SISTERS, INCLUDING MY MOTHER. I AM SURE THERE WERE A LOT OF PRAYERS SAID FOR HIM, AND I AM SURE HIS OWN PARENTS, ESPECIALLY HIS MOTHER, WERE UP THERE IN HEAVEN DOING EVERYTHING THEY COULD.
I GOT A CALL FROM HIM ONE DAY. “I'VE GOT CANCER,” HE SAID. AND OVER THE COURSE OF THE NEXT YEAR, I WOULD GET A CALL, USUALLY ONCE A WEEK, SOMETIMES HE WOULD JUST TALK, SOMETIMES HE WOULD WANT ADVICE, BUT AS USUAL HIS CONVERSATION WAS PEPPERED WITH OBSCENITIES AND REFERENCES TO THE SEVENTH DAY ADVANTAGES, THE MORONS, AND THE CAT LICKERS THAT ANNOYED HIM BECAUSE THEY WENT TO CHURCH.
AT THE VERY END, AS HE LAY DYING IN THE HOSPITAL, ONE OF HIS OLDER BROTHERS CAME ALL THE WAY FROM MONTANA TO BE WITH HIM. I DON'T KNOW THE DETAILS, BUT IN THE END, HE MADE HIS CONFESSION AND RECEIVED THE LAST SACRAMENTS.
SO WHY TELL THIS STORY? I THINK IT SPEAKS TO EVERYTHING THAT JESUS IS TALKING ABOUT TODAY. FIRST, JESUS TALKS ABOUT OUR OBLIGATION TO FRATERNAL CORRECTION. WHEN YOUR BROTHER OR SISTER SINS AGAINST YOU, GO TO HIM AND TELL HIS FAULT TO HIM ALONE. IF HE LISTENS, YOU HAVE WON HIM OVER.” MOST OF US PASS UP THIS STEP. WHEN SOMEONE SINS AGAINST US, AND ANY SIN A FELLOW CHRISTIAN COMMITS IS AGAINST US, BECAUSE WE ARE ALL MEMBERS OF THE SAME BODY OF CHRIST, WE EITHER IGNORE WHAT IS GOING ON, OR WE GO STRAIGHT TO THE TOP. THERE WAS A TIME WHEN I FIRST BECAME A DEACON WHEN I PREACHED A SERMON, AND THEN NEXT THING I KNEW A LETTER HAD BEEN SENT TO THE BISHOP ACCUSING ME OF HERESY. THE INDIVIDUAL WHO TOOK OFFENSE AT WHAT I SAID DIDN'T BOTHER TO TELL ME IN PRIVATE. WITH MY UNCLE, THE REACTION TO HIS LIFE CHOICES ON THE PART OF MY OTHER UNCLES AND AUNTS WAS LIKE THAT; THEY TALKED ABOUT HIM TO EACH OTHER, BUT I DOUBT THAT ANY TOLD HIM IN PRIVATE THAT HE WAS HEADING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION, THAT HE WAS SINNING, THAT HE WAS PUTTING HIS SOUL IN DANGER.
THE SECOND THING JESUS TALKS ABOUT IS BINDING AND LOOSING. NOTICE HE IS ADDRESSING THE SAME PEOPLE THAT HE ADDRESSES WITH THE FIRST STATEMENT AND THE THIRD, SO THIS IS NOT JUST TO THE APOSTLES. IT IS ADDRESSED TO ALL OF US. YES, OF COURSE IT REFERS TO THE FACT THAT THE CHURCH, THROUGH ITS LEADERS, CAN FORGIVE SIN, CAN ADMINISTER SACRAMENTAL GRACE; BUT IT ALSO REFERS, I THINK, TO THE FACT THAT EACH OF US CAN MAKE A CHOICE; TO BE TIED TO SOMETHING-- OR TO LET IT GO. MY UNCLE WAS THE BLACK SHEEP OF THE FAMILY. HIS BROTHERS AND SISTERS AND NIECES AND NEPHEWS ALL KNEW THIS, ALL HELD ON TO IT, AND HE DID THE SAME. ONLY AT THE END DID ONE BROTHER HAVE SUFFICIENT COURAGE TO LET GO OF THOSE CHARACTERIZATIONS AND APPROACH HIM AS THOUGH EVERYTHING WAS NEW AGAIN, AND ALL THE BAGGAGE EACH CARRIED WAS CAST ASIDE. WE ALL HAVE THE POWER TO BIND AND TO LOOSE. MOST OF US ARE VERY GOOD AT BINDING.
THE THIRD THING IS THAT JESUS PROMISES THAT WHEN TWO OF YOU AGREE ON EARTH ABOUT SOMETHING TO PRAY FOR, OUR HEAVENLY FATHER WILL GRANT IT. AND AMONG THE NINE BROTHERS AND SISTERS, AND THE 46 GRANDCHILDREN, SURELY A COMMON PRAYER WAS FOR HIS FINAL CONVERSION, SURELY THOSE WHO HAD GROWN UP WITH HIM OR KNOWN HIM HOPED AND PRAYED THAT THEY WOULD BE UNITED IN HEAVEN. AND SURELY HIS MOTHER BEFORE AND AFTER HER DEATH, NEVER STOPPED PRAYING FOR HIM. AND THE PRAYER WAS GRANTED, AND I KNOW THAT SOMEDAY IF, GOD WILLING, I GET TO HEAVEN, I WILL MEET MY UNCLE ONCE AGAIN.
JESUS IN THIS SHORT MESSAGE TELLS US WHAT KIND OF A COMMUNITY HE WANTS. HE WANTS EACH OF US TO LOVE EACH OTHER ENOUGH TO WANT THEM TO GET TO HEAVEN. WHEN WE SEE THAT A BROTHER OR SISTER IS GOING ASTRAY, HE WANTS US TO TAKE THEM ASIDE AND TELL THEM OF OUR CONCERNS. SOMETIMES WE WILL BE SHOT DOWN. MOST OF THE TIME WE WILL BE IGNORED. BUT NOW AND THEN A LIFE WILL BE CHANGED BECAUSE WE TOOK TO HEART WHAT JESUS SAID. JESUS WANTS EACH OF US TO EXAMINE WHAT BINDS US, WHAT HOLDS US DOWN, WHAT KEEPS US FROM LIVING IN HIS KINGDOM – OUR SELFISHNESS, OUR PREJUDICES, OUR FEARS, OUR UNWILLINGNESS TO FORGIVE. AND HE PROMISES THAT IF WE LET LOOSE OF THESE, IT WILL HAPPEN; WE WILL BE MADE FREE. OUR DECISIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES, EVEN IN ETERNITY.
AND FINALLY, HE CHARGES US AS A COMMUNITY TO PRAY TOGETHER. PRIVATE PRAYER IS A GOOD THING, BUT NOTE THAT IF WE WANT TO BE SURE THAT WE WILL BE ANSWERED, WE HAVE TO PRAY TOGETHER. WELL, WE DO, YOU SAY. WE DO EVERY SUNDAY AT MASS. AND I SAY, PROBABLY NOT REALLY. BECAUSE GOD HAS NO TROUBLE READING OUR HEARTS; IN FACT HE DOESN'T EVEN HAVE TO DO THAT. HE CAN TELL IF WE MEAN WHAT WE PRAY FOR BY WHAT WE DO BETWEEN NOW AND NEXT SUNDAY. DID WE PRAY FOR THE POOR? WHAT DID WE DO? DID WE PRAY FOR PEACE? HOW DID WE HELP THE CAUSE OF PEACE. DID WE PRAY FOR OUR BISHOP? AND DURING THE WEEK DID WE FIND OURSELVES FINDING FAULT WITH THE BISHOP OVER A CUP OF COFFEE WITH A FRIEND? GOD WILL ANSWER WHAT WE PRAY FOR, BUT ONLY IF WE MEAN IT.
SO THINK ABOUT THESE THINGS THIS WEEK. BECAUSE AS USUAL, THE LIGHT OF THE GOSPEL SURE CAN SHOW SOME DIRT AND COBWEBS IN THE DARK CORNERS OF OUR SOULS, AND ITS UP TO US TO USE THAT LIGHT AND GOD'S GRACE TO COME CLOSER TO THE LIFE JESUS WANTS FOR US.