As all of the fall activities swing into full gear, I’m sure many of you are finding yourselves on playing fields or in a gym as you or your child or grandchild get involved in various sports. As I’m sure you all know, when beginning to play a new sport, it is vital to learn the rules. And, they’re different in different sports. For example, basketball players may not kick the ball, but they may pass it with their hands. On the other hand, soccer players may not touch the ball with their hands, but they may use their feet to dribble and kick it. The rules are very important because they keep athletes working together in a cooperative manner so the game can run smoothly, objectives can be met, and goals achieved. Sports are great fun but they also teach us important life lessons, including the important lesson of working together to win.
In his letter to the Christians in Corinth, we hear St. Paul use the sport of running to encourage us to “run in such a way that you may win” (1 Cor 9:25). In his letter to Timothy, he tells us what we win: the prize of the eternal glory. And in the passage of his letter to the Christians in Rome that we hear today, we find St. Paul reminding us of some of the important rules – you shall not commit adultery, you shall not kill, you shall not steal, you shall not covet – and then reminding us how all of these rules are summed up in the Golden Rule: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
This is all very helpful for us, for as forgetful people, we need to be reminded of these all-important rules of Christian life. And, we need especially to be reminded of the underlying principle for following these rules: love. As children, we need to be taught clear boundaries, often in very direct ways: “Do not steal toys”; “Do help your sister.” As we mature in our spiritual lives, however, it is essential to understand the wider context and rationale behind the rules we learned as children. We are called to do certain things and avoid others to help us to be strong in our relationship with God and our neighbor.
As a child, Jesus was raised learning all of the Jewish laws: all 613 precepts. And you thought it was hard to keep the Ten Commandments. As a faithful Jew, honoring the Law and all of its rules was paramount for Jesus. So as we come upon him in today’s Gospel, he is instructing his disciples on how to reprimand someone who has broken one of them. Immediately, we see that Jesus is taking an approach that was very different from the ways of his time. In the time of Jesus, the rules were clear and consequences for breaking them were often serious. Women, for instance, could be stoned on the spot for committing adultery.
Jesus proposes a gentler, more merciful way: talk to the sinner directly and try to win him over. If that doesn’t work, then bring a witness or two along, and finally involve the Church if necessary. If that fails, Jesus tells us to treat them like a Gentile or a tax collector. Of course, we have to remember how Jesus treated them. He recognized where they were and gently led them to the fuller truth. He even called one of the despised tax collectors – Matthew – to become a disciple. Jesus’ goal is not simply to reprimand the sinner but to rebuild a broken relationship. The desire to correct stems from love, the manner of addressing it stems from and manifests love, and all of it is housed within the greater body of love – a community caring for and looking out for its members. The way of Jesus always promotes reconciliation and love.
St. Paul, in today’s second reading, takes a page directly from Jesus’ teaching when he describes love as the fulfillment of the law. Paul tells the Roman Church that all the negative commandments – what one should not do – can be achieved by the positive commandment to love your neighbor as yourself.
Jesus and Paul both knew that a healthy spirituality cannot be maintained by the mere avoidance of sin. God is offering us so much more, namely living in selfless love and the abundant life that comes through such love. We need look no further than the gifts of the cross and the Eucharist to see the extent to which Jesus was willing to go to reconcile us by his love. May the same be true of us, guided by a good understanding of love that leads us into right relationship with God and with one another.
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. 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. That’s how we all win in the most important game we will ever play – the game of life that leads us to eternal happiness!