“If your brother sins against you,
go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.”

Matthew 18:15

Matthew 18:15-20

Reflection

Jesus tells his disciples to deal with a brother who has sinned against them alone. If that does not succeed, then bringing the fault to more people and eventually the Church can occur. If the brother refuses to listen to the highest authority, he tells them to treat the person like a Gentile or tax collector.

It can be hard to forgive someone who has sinned against you, especially if they do nothing to repair the wrong. It becomes an even more difficult relationship if you attempt to bring the person to right terms with higher authority than yourself, such as the Church. Yet it is not for us to change someone’s hardened heart, but God himself.

We can take the necessary steps that Jesus instructs to, but in the end, we must commend the situation to God, however difficult that might be. Despite this, we are not to lose hope, for Jesus tells us that when we are gathered in his name, he is there. We are never alone, and pray is powerful. Let Christ guide your heart to forgiveness, repentance, and love.

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Saint of the Day

St. Onesiphorus: 1st century AD

May the Lord grant mercy to the family of Onesiphorus because he often gave me new heart and was not ashamed of my chains. But when he came to Rome, he promptly searched for me and found me. May the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day. And you know very well the services he rendered in Ephesus. 2 Timothy 1:16-18