Matthew 18:15-20
Somebody was seen constantly with another woman who is not his wife. His friends gossiped, talked, even joked as he drifted to extramarital affair. Poor guy, his marriage broke up. All the friends could say, “I could see it coming for a long time,” but they never budged a finger to call his attention.
Many of us have the notion that loving someone means always agreeing or not hurting his or her feelings. But true love and friendship also means criticizing or disagreeing when a loved one goes off the right path. Sometimes the best service you can do to a person you love is to criticize or disagree with him or her when he or she is not doing right.
In the gospel today Jesus says, “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault (Mt 18,15). In teaching us about responsibility for others, Christ says that part of love is to correct the faults of others.
The gospel message also teaches us that when we have to correct people, like a spouse, a child, a friend, a co-worker, it should not be harsh or oppressive, but in a spirit of charity and concern. As the writer Frank Clark puts it, “Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish a man’s growth without destroying his roots.”
When we correct others, we have to be ready to be corrected
in return, simply because none of us is perfect. Because of the weakness of
human nature, we will always find fraternal correction or dialogue necessary in
our lives. If certain people are wounded and hurt as a result of past
experiences, then they are no different from the man lying on the road between