St. Dominic Catholic Church

Homilies

9/10/17 23rd Sunday Ordinary Time (A)

In the minds of many people today, Christianity is a crutch for the weak or weak-minded. I would propose the opposite: Christianity is so demanding, so difficult, and so contrary to human nature, that it is hard to find someone who lives it. Look at our Gospel today: Jesus says that if someone sins against us, we are to go and reveal their fault to them and try to get them to listen to you. That means more than just accusing them and feeling self-righteous. It means revealing their fault in such a way that they are willing to listen to you. That requires showing that you want to understand them and want to forgive them. And if they don’t listen to you, then, Jesus says, have witnesses who can back you up, and if that’s not enough, then bring it to the attention of the local church. If they refuse to repent, then their behavior has placed them outside the community.

But what do we do, instead? Sometimes we jump to the last step – we avoid them.  But that almost always leads us to talk about them – it leads us to gossip. In the letter of James the tongue is likened to a small fire that can set a whole forest ablaze. St. James says our tongue, “is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.  With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings who are made in the likeness of God.” (James 3:8-9)

The catechism of the Church says that gossip often includes other sins. When we gossip we may be guilty of the sin of rash judgment if without much evidence we assume our neighbor has sinned; We are guilty of detraction if we broadcast someone’s faults to people who have no right to know them; We commit the sin of calumny if we lie about someone and harm their reputation and lead others to make false judgments about them.

We gossip because we want to feel superior to those about whom we’re gossiping. We gossip because we are too cowardly to speak to the person we’re talking about. When we gossip we are literally doing the work of Satan, whom the book of Revelation calls “the accuser.” Facebook, Twitter, and tabloid journals like People magazine are like accelerant for the blaze that is gossip.

Practically the only behavior our secular society condemns is to “be judgmental”. And doesn’t Jesus himself say “stop judging, that you may not be judged”? What Jesus means is we should not judge a person by presuming to know why they do what they do.  Not judging means we do not equate a person’s actions with their character.  On the contrary, God makes it clear the prophet Ezekiel must speak out and try to change someone’s wicked behavior. If he does not, Ezekiel will be held responsible for the consequences of those evil actions. The same is true for us.

Rather than being a religion for the weak, Christianity demands heroic virtue and a genuine concern for the eternal life of others.  We have the obligation to correct one another out of love.  “Love does no evil to the neighbor,” St. Paul says. And this love is demanding – it is the willing of the good of another, so gossip is inevitably contrary to love. 

If we struggle with gossip, how do we change?

Jesus turns from the discussion about confronting sinners to prayer for a reason. Prayer undermines gossip because it brings us into the presence of God, who is Love. Prayer for others leads us to be less selfish. This is why he highlights the act of praying together in his name.  I’m much less likely to pray only for my good if I know you’re praying with me. When we pray together, and especially if we pray for the good of others, makes us imitators of Jesus and highlights our dependence upon him.

The sacraments of confession and eucharist are essential to help us change, too. In confession God gives us the grace to confront sin in ourselves and to reconcile with others. In the eucharist we are confronted by the selfless love of Jesus who offers himself as a sacrifice to reconcile us to himself and the Father. Around this altar we are invited into fellowship with Jesus and with each other. And in that union, we can pray with each other for whatever we want and it will be granted by Our Father in heaven because we will want what He wants for us – what is truly good.

So let us pray: Father, help us to genuinely desire the good of our brothers and sisters whom you love.  Give us the virtue of fortitude to speak the truth in love to each other.  May we be so confident of your love for us enough to accept correction from others, and so grow in humility and perfection. And may you answer this prayer because it is, in fact, your divine will for us.