In writing to the Christians in Rome, we hear St. Paul say in today’s second reading that the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. He is reiterating the teaching that Jesus often offered, indeed, his greatest commandment. The commandment to love – God, oneself, and one another – is emphasized over and over again in all four of the Gospels.
God’s love for us is also very clearly presented in the Old Testament, although it is easy to miss this in the midst of all of the messages of doom and destruction, the result of man’s continued disregard for God’s law. For example, when God created Adam and Eve, he placed them in his garden and lovingly cared for them, telling them that they could eat from any of the trees of his garden, except the tree of knowledge of good and evil – trying to protect their innocence. Even when he expelled them from Eden after they followed the temptation of the devil rather than his commands, God continued to care for them, making clothing for them and allowing them to share in his creative power as they gave birth to Cain and Abel. When God revealed himself to Moses on Mount Sinai where he gave him the Ten Commandments which spelled out how to love God and neighbor, he proclaimed himself to be, “The Lord, the Lord, a God gracious and merciful, abounding in love and fidelity.”
Unfortunately, so many of the leaders of ancient Israel paid no attention to God’s call to love as he did – faithful to him and generous with one another, especially those in need – so, in the fullness of time, he sent his son to show us his love in person. Jesus is the love of God made flesh. He came to save us, to make us whole again, to make us holy. The love that Jesus commands, and that Jesus lives, is not a warm or fuzzy feeling, nor is it self-centered. It is a profound willing of good for the other, and a selfless desire that they attain the goal for which they were created: eternal union with our loving God in heaven.
This is the love we also are commanded to live. We are asked to will – to want, to seek, to make happen – the good of those God puts around us. This is not always easy. We see examples of this in both the reading from the prophet Ezekiel and in our Gospel. In our first reading, we hear the Lord tell the prophet Ezekiel that he will be held responsible for the death of the wicked if he does not speak out to dissuade him from his ways of worshiping false gods and caring only for himself. In the Gospel, Jesus gives very clear instructions on how we should correct those who sin against us – that is, our way of living faithful lives – how to raise our voices against wickedness, speaking out and speaking up when we see others living apart from God. To do so is to love, and it is a good, practical way to live out our Lord’s commandment to love God and one another.
Of course, it’s very important to understand the sins that Jesus was talking about. He is not talking about the petty annoyances that we experience when someone hurts our feelings or disagrees with us. We’ll cover those sins next week when we hear Peter ask Jesus how often he should forgive someone. The sins Jesus calls us to address in today’s reading are those serious sins that can lead others away from God. Today’s Gospel passage follows immediately after the moment when Jesus has presented his important parable of the lost sheep, assuring us that God wants us all in his fold and that he sent his son as the Good Shepherd to go after the lost sheep. In today’s Gospel, he is calling us to continue his work as the Good Shepherd, leading all those who have strayed back to God’s fold. We know how important God is to us – that’s why we’re here to worship God – and yet, who here doesn’t know of people – even members of our own families – who have strayed from God and his Church.
Evangelization – spreading the Good News of our salvation through Christ – is the mission of the whole Church, not just us priests or religious sisters or brothers. Evangelization is also a very careful work, requiring compassion, patience and prayerful discernment. That’s what we hear in today’s Gospel. Jesus calls us – we who believe in him as our savior – to gently and patiently draw those who have gone astray back to God. If you succeed, then you can rejoice because you have won over your brother or sister; you have brought him or her back into the fold. If you’re unable to convince someone on your own, then Jesus advises you to ask for help from one or two fellow believers or even from the church. If that fails, then Jesus teaches us to treat them as a Gentile or a tax collector. And notice how Jesus treated Gentiles and tax collectors. He sought them out, met them where they were and gently drew them to himself. Recall his encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well and Matthew, a tax collector whom he called to be his disciple!
Of course, in all of this ministry of evangelization we need to keep in mind our Lord’s other teaching about the beam in our own eyes. We have to make sure that we are truly living our faith if we want to help others on their journey back to God.
At the end of today’s Gospel, we hear our Lord assure us that “where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Let us pray that we will continue to be faithful to our God and faithful witnesses of his love to everyone around us, especially those who have strayed. Then, we will have opportunities, over and over again, to rejoice as we all owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another as God loves us.