Scripture Reflection September 07, 2008: 1+1=3

Scripture Readings:
Ezekiel 33: 7-9
Psalm 95
Romans 13: 8-10
Matthew 18: 15-20

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It seems that a number of tragic events in our country in recent years have instilled in us a deeper sense of solidarity with others. The September 11 attacks, which we remember this coming week on their seventh anniversary, forced us to identify with all of those who suffered harm or loss during that painful time. This past week, as people in the Gulf states awaited the arrival of Hurricane Gustav, there seemed to be a sense that all Americans were keeping vigil, praying that this storm would not be a repeat of Katrina. If good things can come out of such disasters, certainly one of them is the stronger sense of connection with others that is awakened within us. We begin to realize that we bear a responsibility for the well-being of one another.

The Scripture readings for this Sunday speak to us of our responsibility for others. This can be a challenging message for us because our culture prizes individual liberties. We jealously protect our privacy, and we admire people who mind their own business. But perhaps events like 9/11 and the various natural disasters that have struck this country can make the message of these Scriptures more intelligible to us.

The prophet Ezekiel is given a special role of leadership among God’s people during the period of their exile in Babylon and later of their return from exile. This is a task that includes admonishing evildoers. He is compared to a watchman, a sentinel who stands at the top of a hill or on a city wall with the responsibility of warning the people if enemy troops should approach. Ezekiel is instructed to keep watch in the community and to speak out when he perceives the presence of evil and wrongdoing. This prophetic mission is obviously an unpopular one, but it is a task which shows that faith in the God of Israel is born and lived out in community. Our faith, as personal as it may be to us, always involves others. Faith is never merely a private affair.

In the gospel, Jesus instructs his disciples about their future life together as those who carry on his mission. He speaks of their responsibility for one another’s spiritual well-being. This responsibility includes confronting the person who harms the community. Jesus insists, though, that such a confrontation must always be focused on the goal of reconciliation. It must be undertaken in a spirit of compassion and in a way that respects the dignity of the offender. It should be marked by a spirit of mercy for those in the community who are struggling with their faith. Jesus assures them of a promise that they can count on in their life together as his disciples. This is the promise of his faithful, abiding presence to those who gather and pray in his name: “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” This community of disciples, even in its humble origins, is a powerful gathering because Jesus is present in their midst.

We have a responsibility toward others. We are connected to those in our country who suffer from human-made disasters like 9/11 or natural disasters like hurricanes. We are intimately related to the people across the globe who live in miserable conditions, often with no one to give voice to their concerns – the “bottom billion” of people on our planet. Even though there are real limits to what we can do to solve the world’s problems, the gospel calls us to resist the urge to retreat into our own private, self-enclosed worlds.

These Scripture readings remind us that this corporate responsibility also extends to the life of faith. We did not conceive our Catholic Christian faith by ourselves. We do not live and grow in our faith alone, isolated from one another. Even in heaven we will be alive in communion with others. We come to the celebration of the Eucharist on Sundays from many different places and backgrounds. Each of us arrives there with our own personal concerns that we bring to the Lord. But we come together as church, as a community of faith gathered in the name of Jesus. We gather with the trust that he is present in our midst, just as he promised his disciples. The presence and participation of each person strengthens the faith of every other person in the Eucharistic assembly. The word of welcome that we extend to the visitor, the elderly or infirm person becomes a gesture of Christ’s hospitality. Our offering of the sign of peace to one another is a sacrament, a living sign, of Christ’s gift of peace to us. Our coming forward to receive the body and blood of Christ gives us the nourishment we need to become the Body of Christ in the world.

We can come to the Eucharist this Sunday with the confidence that the risen Christ is truly present in our midst. As we do, let us ask Christ to teach us to become more responsive to one another in the work of building up each other’s faith. And may we pray for the grace to respond as best we can to those in our world who are in need, so that they may recognize in us a sign of Christ’s presence and care for them.

Fr. Robin Ryan, cp