Book of Ezekiel 33,7-9. Thus says the LORD: You, son of man, I have appointed watchman for the house of Israel; when you hear me say anything, you shall warn them for me. If I tell the wicked man that he shall surely die, and you do not speak out to dissuade the wicked man from his way, he (the wicked man) shall die for his guilt, but I will hold you responsible for his death. But if you warn the wicked man, trying to turn him from his way, and he refuses to turn from his way, he shall die for his guilt, but you shall save yourself.
Psalms 95(94),1-2.6-7.8-9. Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD; let us acclaim the Rock of our salvation. Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us joyfully sing psalms to him.
Come, let us bow down in worship; let us kneel before the LORD who made us. For he is our God, and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.
Oh, that today you would hear his voice: “Harden not your hearts as at Meribah, as in the day of Massah in the desert, Where your fathers tempted me; they tested me though they had seen my works.”
Letter to the Romans 13,8-10. Brothers and sisters: Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 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, (namely) "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no evil to the neighbor; hence, love is the fulfillment of the law.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 18,15-20. Jesus said to his disciples: "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that 'every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses.' If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church. If he refuses to listen even to the church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector. Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again, (amen,) I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS Cartagena de Indias 10 9 2017 “The Dignity of the Person and Human Rights” ...from text --- “The common home of all men and women must continue to rise on the foundations of a right understanding of universal fraternity and respect for the sacredness of every human life, of every man and every woman, the poor, the elderly, children, the infirm, the unborn, the unemployed, the abandoned, those considered disposable because they are only considered as part of a statistic. This common home of all men and women must also be built on the understanding of a certain sacredness of created nature” (Address to the United Nations, 25 9 2015).
In the Gospel, Jesus also shows us the possibility that the other may remain closed, refusing to change, persisting in evil. We cannot deny that there are people who persist in sins that damage the fabric of our coexistence and community: “I also think of the heart-breaking drama of drug abuse, which reaps profits in contempt of the moral and civil laws. This evil directly goes against human dignity and gradually tears away at the image the Creator has formed in us. I firmly condemn this trade which has killed so many and which is nourished by people who have no scruples. The lives of our brothers and sisters cannot be played with, nor their dignity instrumentalized. I appeal so that ways can be found to stop the drug-trade which only sows death everywhere, uproots so many hopes and destroys so many families. I also think of another tragedy: I think of the devastation of natural resources and ongoing pollution, and the tragedy of the exploitation of labour. I think too of illicit money trafficking and financial speculation, which often prove both predatory and harmful for entire economic and social systems, exposing millions of men and women to poverty. I think of prostitution, which every day reaps innocent victims, especially the young, robbing them of their future. I think of the abomination of human trafficking, crimes and abuses against minors, the horror of slavery still present in many parts of the world; the frequently overlooked tragedy of migrants, who are often victims of disgraceful and illegal manipulation” , and I think too of the desire to even make some profit from that pacifist “sterile legality” which ignores the flesh of our brothers and sisters, the flesh of Christ. We must also be prepared for this, and solidly base ourselves upon principles of justice that in no way diminish charity. It is only possible to live peacefully by avoiding actions that corrupt or harm life. In this context, we remember all those who, bravely and tirelessly, have worked and even lost their lives in defending and protecting the rights and the dignity of the human person. History asks us to embrace a definitive commitment to defending human rights, here in Cartagena de Indias, the place that you have chosen as the national seat of their defence.
Finally, Jesus asks us to pray together, so that our prayer, even with its personal nuances and various emphases, becomes symphonic and arises as one single cry. I am sure that today we pray together for the rescue of those who were wrong and not for their destruction, for justice and not revenge, for healing in truth and not for oblivion. We pray to fulfil the theme of this visit: “Let us take the first step!” And may this first step be in a common direction.
--->To “take the first step” is, above all, to go out and meet others with Christ the Lord. And he always asks us to take a determined and sure step towards our brothers and sisters, and to renounce our claim to be forgiven without showing forgiveness, to be loved without showing love. If Colombia wants a stable and lasting peace, it must urgently take a step in this direction, which is that of the common good, of equity, of justice, of respect for human nature and its demands. Only if we help to untie the knots of violence, will we unravel the complex threads of disagreements. We are asked to take the step of meeting with our brothers and sisters, and to risk a correction that does not want to expel but to integrate. And we are asked to be charitably firm in that which is not negotiable. In short, the demand is to build peace, “speaking not with the tongue but with hands and works” (Saint Peter Claver), and to lift up our eyes to heaven together. The Lord is able to untangle that which seems impossible to us; he has promised to accompany us to the end of time and will not allow our efforts to come to nothing.
FAUSTI - "You will have gained your brother," says Jesus to the one who was able to lead a sinner back to recognize his own error. In fact, he has restored fraternity: he is no longer alone and where two brothers are together, the Father is pleased and the Son is with them. The truth must be done in charity (Eph 4:15), but charity is never separated from truth. The primacy is always of love; but this is manifested both in seeking the lost and in enlightening him in disorientation; and in the end forgive him, however. What is said about fraternal correction seems at contrast with not judging, with the search for reconciliation, with the parable of the darnel (13,24). In reality, fraternal correction is a sign of great love: it is possible in a community where everyone is welcomed within his own limits, is not judged if he is wrong, is acquitted if he is guilty, is sought if he is lost, is forgiven if he sins. A person, only if accepted and to the extent that he is accepted, is willing to accept any remarks without experiencing them as aggression. Fraternal correction is indispensable for our being together to be for the best and not for the worst. It is a concrete way to look for those who are lost, so that they do not get lost: it is the highest expression of mercy. Fraternal correction is the exact opposite of scandal. If this neglects the brother and leads him to evil, the correction takes care of him and distances him from evil. If the scandal loses, the correction gains the brother. Sin, in fact, breaks the fraternity. If you forgive, you restore it only halfway: you are brother but the other one is not yet, until he recognizes the error and accepts forgiveness. Correction, when it succeeds, restores fraternity on both sides. We must try all the ways to bring the lost back home. First face to face, then with the mediation of others, and, if necessary, of the community itself. Whoever does not want to change his mind will be considered a pagan and a sinner. It is not judgment or condemnation, but medicine, so that the lost person may recognize his evil and may repent. Treating one as a pagan and publican does not mean excluding him from one' s love: Jesus is a friend of publicans and sinners, He came to save what is lost and will send His disciples to all pagans. The community has the same power as Peter, who is the same as his Lord. To make present on earth the judgment of the Father who is in heaven, who does not want to lose any of His little ones. To have this spirit, fraternal prayer is necessary, addressed to the Father who guarantees us the presence of the Son. Jesus, as the Good Shepherd, is also the Son. He leads the brothers and sisters to the mercy of the Father by welcoming sinners and convincing of sin those who consider themselves righteous. The Church has received the same power as Jesus, and must use it in the same way. The common prayer, which guarantees to her the presence of the Son, obtains from the Father the strength to live the gift of helping one another and to be together for the best. A Christian community is spiritually mature to the extent that it is able to exercise fraternal correction. It is useful to keep in mind that it is proposed at the center of the discourse on community, after no less than eighteen chapters of instruction. We are tempted to place it at the beginning of the first chapter!
Book of
RispondiEliminaEzekiel 33,7-9.
Thus says the LORD: You, son of man, I have appointed watchman for the house of Israel; when you hear me say anything, you shall warn them for me.
If I tell the wicked man that he shall surely die, and you do not speak out to dissuade the wicked man from his way, he (the wicked man) shall die for his guilt, but I will hold you responsible for his death.
But if you warn the wicked man, trying to turn him from his way, and he refuses to turn from his way, he shall die for his guilt, but you shall save yourself.
Psalms
95(94),1-2.6-7.8-9.
Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;
let us acclaim the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us joyfully sing psalms to him.
Come, let us bow down in worship;
let us kneel before the LORD who made us.
For he is our God,
and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.
Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
“Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
they tested me though they had seen my works.”
Letter
to the Romans 13,8-10.
Brothers and sisters: Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
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, (namely) "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
Love does no evil to the neighbor; hence, love is the fulfillment of the law.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ
according to Saint Matthew 18,15-20.
Jesus said to his disciples: "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother.
If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that 'every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses.'
If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church. If he refuses to listen even to the church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector.
Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Again, (amen,) I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father.
For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
EliminaCartagena de Indias 10 9 2017
“The Dignity of the Person and Human Rights”
...from text --- “The common home of all men and women must continue to rise on the foundations of a right understanding of universal fraternity and respect for the sacredness of every human life, of every man and every woman, the poor, the elderly, children, the infirm, the unborn, the unemployed, the abandoned, those considered disposable because they are only considered as part of a statistic. This common home of all men and women must also be built on the understanding of a certain sacredness of created nature” (Address to the United Nations, 25 9 2015).
In the Gospel, Jesus also shows us the possibility that the other may remain closed, refusing to change, persisting in evil. We cannot deny that there are people who persist in sins that damage the fabric of our coexistence and community: “I also think of the heart-breaking drama of drug abuse, which reaps profits in contempt of the moral and civil laws. This evil directly goes against human dignity and gradually tears away at the image the Creator has formed in us. I firmly condemn this trade which has killed so many and which is nourished by people who have no scruples. The lives of our brothers and sisters cannot be played with, nor their dignity instrumentalized. I appeal so that ways can be found to stop the drug-trade which only sows death everywhere, uproots so many hopes and destroys so many families. I also think of another tragedy: I think of the devastation of natural resources and ongoing pollution, and the tragedy of the exploitation of labour. I think too of illicit money trafficking and financial speculation, which often prove both predatory and harmful for entire economic and social systems, exposing millions of men and women to poverty. I think of prostitution, which every day reaps innocent victims, especially the young, robbing them of their future. I think of the abomination of human trafficking, crimes and abuses against minors, the horror of slavery still present in many parts of the world; the frequently overlooked tragedy of migrants, who are often victims of disgraceful and illegal manipulation” , and I think too of the desire to even make some profit from that pacifist “sterile legality” which ignores the flesh of our brothers and sisters, the flesh of Christ. We must also be prepared for this, and solidly base ourselves upon principles of justice that in no way diminish charity. It is only possible to live peacefully by avoiding actions that corrupt or harm life. In this context, we remember all those who, bravely and tirelessly, have worked and even lost their lives in defending and protecting the rights and the dignity of the human person. History asks us to embrace a definitive commitment to defending human rights, here in Cartagena de Indias, the place that you have chosen as the national seat of their defence.
Finally, Jesus asks us to pray together, so that our prayer, even with its personal nuances and various emphases, becomes symphonic and arises as one single cry. I am sure that today we pray together for the rescue of those who were wrong and not for their destruction, for justice and not revenge, for healing in truth and not for oblivion. We pray to fulfil the theme of this visit: “Let us take the first step!” And may this first step be in a common direction.
--->To “take the first step” is, above all, to go out and meet others with Christ the Lord. And he always asks us to take a determined and sure step towards our brothers and sisters, and to renounce our claim to be forgiven without showing forgiveness, to be loved without showing love. If Colombia wants a stable and lasting peace, it must urgently take a step in this direction, which is that of the common good, of equity, of justice, of respect for human nature and its demands. Only if we help to untie the knots of violence, will we unravel the complex threads of disagreements. We are asked to take the step of meeting with our brothers and sisters, and to risk a correction that does not want to expel but to integrate. And we are asked to be charitably firm in that which is not negotiable. In short, the demand is to build peace, “speaking not with the tongue but with hands and works” (Saint Peter Claver), and to lift up our eyes to heaven together. The Lord is able to untangle that which seems impossible to us; he has promised to accompany us to the end of time and will not allow our efforts to come to nothing.
EliminaFAUSTI - "You will have gained your brother," says Jesus to the one who was able to lead a sinner back to recognize his own error. In fact, he has restored fraternity: he is no longer alone and where two brothers are together, the Father is pleased and the Son is with them.
RispondiEliminaThe truth must be done in charity (Eph 4:15), but charity is never separated from truth.
The primacy is always of love; but this is manifested both in seeking the lost and in enlightening him in disorientation; and in the end forgive him, however.
What is said about fraternal correction seems at contrast with not judging, with the search for reconciliation, with the parable of the darnel (13,24).
In reality, fraternal correction is a sign of great love: it is possible in a community where everyone is welcomed within his own limits, is not judged if he is wrong, is acquitted if he is guilty, is sought if he is lost, is forgiven if he sins.
A person, only if accepted and to the extent that he is accepted, is willing to accept any remarks without experiencing them as aggression.
Fraternal correction is indispensable for our being together to be for the best and not for the worst. It is a concrete way to look for those who are lost, so that they do not get lost: it is the highest expression of mercy.
Fraternal correction is the exact opposite of scandal. If this neglects the brother and leads him to evil, the correction takes care of him and distances him from evil.
If the scandal loses, the correction gains the brother.
Sin, in fact, breaks the fraternity. If you forgive, you restore it only halfway: you are brother but the other one is not yet, until he recognizes the error and accepts forgiveness.
Correction, when it succeeds, restores fraternity on both sides.
We must try all the ways to bring the lost back home. First face to face, then with the mediation of others, and, if necessary, of the community itself.
Whoever does not want to change his mind will be considered a pagan and a sinner.
It is not judgment or condemnation, but medicine, so that the lost person may recognize his evil and may repent. Treating one as a pagan and publican does not mean excluding him from one' s love: Jesus is a friend of publicans and sinners, He came to save what is lost and will send His disciples to all pagans.
The community has the same power as Peter, who is the same as his Lord.
To make present on earth the judgment of the Father who is in heaven, who does not want to lose any of His little ones.
To have this spirit, fraternal prayer is necessary, addressed to the Father who guarantees us the presence of the Son.
Jesus, as the Good Shepherd, is also the Son.
He leads the brothers and sisters to the mercy of the Father by welcoming sinners and convincing of sin those who consider themselves righteous.
The Church has received the same power as Jesus, and must use it in the same way.
The common prayer, which guarantees to her the presence of the Son, obtains from the Father the strength to live the gift of helping one another and to be together for the best.
A Christian community is spiritually mature to the extent that it is able to exercise fraternal correction. It is useful to keep in mind that it is proposed at the center of the discourse on community, after no less than eighteen chapters of instruction.
We are tempted to place it at the beginning of the first chapter!