23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
04 September 2011
First reading Ezekiel 33:7-9
The word of the Lord was addressed to me as follows: ‘Son of man, I have appointed you as sentry to the House of Israel. When you hear a word from my mouth, warn them in my name. If I say to a wicked man: Wicked wretch, you are to die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked man to renounce his ways, then he shall die for his sin, but I will hold you responsible for his death. If, however, you do warn a wicked man to renounce his ways and repent, and he does not repent, then he shall die for his sin, but you yourself will have saved your life.’
Psalm: Psalm 94:1-2,6-9
Second reading Romans 13:8-10
Avoid getting into debt, except the debt of mutual love. If you love your fellow men you have carried out your obligations. All the commandments: You shall not commit adultery, you shall not kill, you shall not steal, you shall not covet, and so on, are summed up in this single command: You must love your neighbour as yourself. Love is the one thing that cannot hurt your neighbour; that is why it is the answer to every one of the commandments.
Gospel Matthew 18:15-20
Jesus said, ‘If your brother does something wrong, go and have it out with him alone, between your two selves. If he listens to you, you have won back your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you: the evidence of two or three witnesses is required to sustain any charge. But if he refuses to listen to these, report it to the community; and if he refuses to listen to the community, treat him like a pagan or a tax collector.
‘I tell you solemnly, whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.
‘I tell you solemnly once again, if two of you on earth agree to ask anything at all, it will be granted to you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three meet in my name, I shall be there with them.’
Reflection
By Gharri Tulabut
Just a few weeks ago, there was this controversial artist who participated in an art exhibit at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP). His medium was the images of our Lord Jesus Christ, The Blessed Virgin Mary, the Crucifix and many other religious symbols which he blasphemed by doing different sort of things such as putting condoms on one, adding a male organ to another, among others. Many, of course, were offended. Me, personally, I could not even find his works artistic. At first, though I also felt offended, I did not bother to care. I was then thinking that he was only trying to get attention and he does not deserve mine. But when even my non-Catholic friends were posting protests against him on Facebook, I became ashamed and sorry for my initial reaction.
Good thing, the Church leaders did not have the same initial response as mine. The Church was ready, as always, to take the necessary actions to rebuke what they think is not according to the will of God, especially something blasphemous or sacrilegious.
Today in the first reading, God tells Prophet Ezekiel that he must warn the people of their wickedness so that they may be saved. If he did not warn them, he will be held responsible for their death. But if he warned them and they refused to listen, Ezekiel will not be responsible.
Tough job for prophets, huh? Maybe that is why prophets were the least tactful people in the world. They will tell you in your face if what you are doing is not according the will of God. According to this book I read a long time ago, “tact is the art of making a point without making an enemy.” True enough, prophets made enemies with the people whose ways they try to reprove or reprimand. The consequences? Well, not only were they abhorred, many of them were put to death. Just look at what happened to St. John the Baptist. Or even what happened to our Lord Jesus.
This is also what’s happening to the Church nowadays. In the example I gave, it just so happen that many, including national artists, also found the artist’s works as distasteful, irresponsible, and disrespectful. That is why the Church was not hit that hard by the public, especially by the netizens (people using the internet). But there were other issues wherein possible consequences are far greater than what those so-called artworks, can bring. Issues such as the RH bill and divorce law where the Church’s stand did not receive popular support.
If you are the Church leaders, what would you do if you see something about to happen that will change the morality of the people and will destroy the Filipino family for good, just like what happened to the nations that embraced these kinds of change? Will you just not care like I first did with the issue of the artworks? Or will you warn about the consequences just like the prophets have done?
Forgive us Lord for failing to defend You at times. Grant us the strength, courage, and wisdom to always stand by You. And Lord, may Your body here on earth be firm in fighting against the disguises of the evil one. And should our efforts be not enough and suffer temporary setbacks, give us the courage and integrity so that we may not fall to the pressure of compromising our values for the sake of what is popularly acceptable to the world. Amen.
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