Homily for Sunday, 7 September 2014

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings of the day: Ezekiel 33:7-9; Psalm 95:1-2, 2-3, 6-7, 8-9; Romans 13:8-10; Matthew 18:15-20

“You… I have appointed watchman for the house of Israel,” God says to the prophet Ezekiel in our first reading today. Jesus says to his disciples, the earliest Church community, in our Gospel reading: “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” So how are we to balance being a “watchman”; a people with the power to bind and loose, the prophetic calling to keep one another morally accountable, with reconciliation and forgiveness?

St. Paul gives us a standard by which we can keep watch; keep one another accountable for good and evil; by which we can bind and loose justly but also act with forgiveness. He says that “love is the fulfillment of the Law.” All “the commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery; you shall not kill; you shall not steal; you shall not covet,’ and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this saying: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”

St. Paul’s recap of Jesus’ commandment to love our neighbor sounds easy enough, right? Perhaps to love one another, and especially to express this love as forgiveness when another person does evil or persists in doing evil, is easier said than done.

How is “love your neighbor as yourself” practiced in community, especially when somebody commits sin that damages relationships; that damages community? Jesus gives us an idea of the practical implications in a faith community of “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” especially in response to evil and sin. First, speak with the person who has done wrong one-on-one. If this does not work, bring “one or two” other “witnesses.” If this still does not work, bring more witnesses; “tell the Church” in order to try to convince the sinner to turn from his or her evil. Only then may the unrepentant sinner be cast out of the community: “Treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector.”

Here we have it: four foolproof steps toward reconciliation and forgiveness! If only this were realistic; if only reconciliation and forgiveness were that easy…

But wait: If we do not find Jesus’ invitation to reconciliation and forgiveness realistic, is this perhaps because we often do not interpret it correctly or put it into proper practice in our relationships; in our communities?

“If your brother [or sister] sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.” This does not mean “go and gossip with a friend about the wrong somebody did to you.”

“If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you… If he refuses to listen to them, tell the Church.” If healing, forgiveness, and reconciliation cannot be achieved one-on-one between the person who sins and the person sinned against, then this healing, forgiveness, and reconciliation becomes a communal effort. Friends; families; communities must work together. But again the primary goal of this communal effort is not to punish the person who does evil; is not to hurt her or him in return for the evil done, but to facilitate healing, forgiveness, and reconciliation. Even when, as a last resort, a person must be cast out of the community, treated “as you would a Gentile or a tax collector” in our Gospel’s words, in Church terms excommunicated, even then the goal is healing; forgiveness; and reconciliation; bringing the restored sinner back into the community.

Is finding the balance between forgiveness; fostering healing and reconciliation on the one hand, and on the other hand ensuring justice; accountability; being the prophetic “watchman” after Ezekiel in our first reading; the balance between binding and loosing, unrealistic for us?

It is perhaps unrealistic if we understand forgiveness and reconciliation as weakness. Let us take the example of Officer Daryl Pierson of the Rochester Police Department, killed in the line of duty on Wednesday night. Crimes such as this very understandably lead to sadness and even anger in communities; in our city. A wife and two young children are now deprived of a loving husband and father by this heinous action. Would it not be difficult to find a balance between calls for justice and accountability and calls for forgiveness in this and similar situations? Our Gospel might just be pointing us toward forgiveness; reconciliation; healing; perhaps shown forth as prayer for Officer Pierson, for his family, and also for the man who killed him; for his repentance. Is this kind of forgiveness and reconciliation a sign of weakness, or is it a showing forth of tremendous strength, perhaps only achievable by God’s grace?

But is finding the balance between forgiveness; reconciliation and justice; accountability also unrealistic if we understand forgiveness to be about forgetting that any wrong has been done? How many of us have heard “forgive and forget”? How many of us have been unable to forget a serious wrong done to us, even after many years? I hear and have even said on occasion something like, “I would like to forgive this person, but I cannot forget what she or he did to me. I cannot trust that she or he will not do the same to me or to another person again.” How many of us have carried guilt for having been unable to forget wrong done to us?

Let me try to console you with this: Neither Jesus, nor the Bible, nor the Church have ever taught “forgive and forget.” Forgiveness does not mean forgetting the wrong done to us. If so, would the balance not be upset too far toward loosing; a false forgiveness that does not hold us accountable for our actions? No, forgiveness is first a conscious and then a heartfelt decision not to allow another person’s evil to hurt us anymore; not to let this evil destroy us; destroy relationships; destroy community. Forgiveness is a decision made with love; a decision to heal; a decision to reconcile. Forgiveness with love (or charity) leaves room for legitimate disagreement, as St. Augustine once said: “In important things unity; in less important things diversity; in all things charity.” Forgiveness with love seeks the good of one another, knowing that we are all redeemed sinners.

“Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them,” Jesus says in our Gospel reading. Where there is love for neighbor as for self; where love gives rise to forgiveness, not forgiving and forgetting but forgiving to strengthen relationships and community, there is our balance between binding and loosing. There is our balance between being the “watchman”; keeping prophetic watch for the sake of moral accountability, and authentic forgiveness. There is our strength to pray together for the good of one another. There Jesus is in our midst.