Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time Yr A

Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time Yr A

10 Sep 2017

Homily

One of the things I love about Scripture is its realism. Those who wrote it knew and acknowledged that they were not perfect. They knew and acknowledged that there were going to be occasions of friction and dispute. Here, we are given a way of dealing with someone who, deliberately or not, is creating friction or dissension within the community.

Did you notice that in the whole passage, it is about dealing with the issue or person, prayerfully and gently, not with restrictive discipline. The community is concerned to win back rather than with winning!

One of the disturbing trends I have noticed in much public debate over the last few decades is how much of it is about the opposite. Rather than winning over the other, too much seems to be to defeat the other.

This has been exacerbated to a degree by the proliferation of so-called news sites on the Internet, which are nothing of the kind. Many exist only to push their agenda. The result is that many people get their “news” solely from sources they already agree with, the so called “echo effect”.

Far too much of the debate I see and read is also starting from the viewpoint of denying the other side any goodness. They are demonised. Any discussion or debate needs to start from the awareness that very few people act – knowingly – in bad faith. Most of those who support abortion or doctor assisted killing do so from a wish to help. We can disagree with their ideas, but should not judge their motives!

How do we regard those who disagree with how we ourselves believe? Do we hurry to judge and cast them out, or do we seek to speak and listen to them, respectfully and in love? How closely do we follow Matthew’s call?

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