SUNDAY HOMILIES FOR YEAR A

By Fr Munachi E. Ezeogu, cssp

Homily for 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time - on the
Epistle
Home > Homilies > Year A > Sunday 23 Gospel

Do I Owe You?
Ezekiel 33:7-9 Romans 13:8-10 Matthew 18:15-20

A woman got married to a man who did not really love her. The man
was very demanding and controlling. To make sure that she fulfilled all
her obligations as wife, the man drew up for her a set of rules. His list
of dos and don'ts included such things as when she should get up in the
mornings, when to serve his breakfast and what household chores she
should do before he came back from work. Many years later this man
died. With time this woman met another man who really loved her.
Soon they were married. Her new husband did not give her a list of dos
and don'ts." He simply showered her with gestures of love and words
of praise and compliment for everything she did. One day while
cleaning the house, the woman finds the old list of dos and don'ts that
her former husband had made for her. Going through the list, she
discovers that she has been doing those things and more for her new
husband even though he did not given her any rules. More importantly,
she has been doing them happily and without stress. There are two
ways of meeting our obligations to one another. One is by law, the
other is by love. Law multiplies where love is thin. Where love reigns,
laws are unnecessary.

Today's 2nd reading is from Romans 13 where Paul turns to the subject
of Christian moral conduct. Judging from what you hear in Christian
circles, you would think that the primary Christian moral obligation is
love. But Paul thinks it is deeper than that. For Paul, as we see in
Romans 13, the primary moral obligation for Christians is the same as
that for non-Christians. It is the commitment to justice.

Paul starts by giving us a broad definition of justice that covers the

length and breadth of the entire field of human morality. Justice
means, "Pay to all what is due them - taxes to whom taxes are due,
revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due,
honour to whom honour is due" (Romans 13:7). All our duties as
human beings and as Christians - duties to God, to the state, and to one
another - are covered under justice so understood. Take the Ten
Commandments, for example. The first three commandments are on
giving back to God what is due to Him as our creator and life-giver.
The last seven commandments are on the debts we owe one another. In
the opening verses of Romans 13, Paul has talked of our duties to
support the state and the government. Again he speaks of it in terms of
paying the debt we owe in justice.

When we realize that the one thing that is required of us in our dealing
with God, with the state and with one another is justice, then the next
question arises: how then do we fulfill this justice? This is where
Christianity has something new to say. Whereas the Jewish religion,
under Moses, thought that the best way to secure justice is by law, the
Christian religion, under Jesus, gives a different answer. The better
way to fulfill justice is by love and not by law. Hence Paul advices us
here to "Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the
one who loves another has fulfilled the law" (Romans 13:8). Love is
the fulfilling of the law of justice, the debt we owe one another. The
goal of the moral life remains to do justice. Love comes in as the best
means to achieve this goal.

Today's Christians will have some problem with this teaching. This is
because we are used to seeing love as an option, as something we may
choose to do or not do. Aren't we free to love anyone we choose? Yes,
but that is a different kind of love. Intimate relationship love (eros) and
vested interest love (philia) are usually optional and voluntary. But the
goodwill love (agape) which Paul speaks about here is a debt we owe
in justice to God, to the state, to the Christian community, to one
another, and to our very selves.

How often we hear the expression, "Do I owe you?"! We hear it, for
example, when a beggar or someone in need insistently asks for help.
We dismiss the needy person with the angry remark, "Stop bugging
me. Do I owe you?" Of course, we do not owe them in the legal sense.
But maybe, we do indeed owe them, in the moral sense that Paul is
teaching us here. "Owe no one anything, except love." If love
demands that we help them out in their need, then we owe them.

As Christians today, we suffer from a serious lack of awareness and

sensitivity to our obligations to other people. When we hear that a
country is devastated by drought and famine, do we owe them? When
we hear that HIV-AIDS is wiping out generations of young people in
certain countries, do we owe them? The legally minded among us will
say, "No, we don't." But Paul today wants us to develop the awareness
and moral sensitivity to say, "Yes, we do." For us Christians, goodwill
or kindness is not something we may choose to do or not do. It is a
debt we owe to each and to all.
SUNDAY HOMILIES FOR YEAR A
By Fr Munachi E. Ezeogu, cssp
 Homily for 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time - on the
Gospel
Home > Homilies > Year A > Sunday 23 Epistle

Reaching Out to the Erring

Ezekiel 33:7-9 Romans 13:8-10 Matthew 18:15-20

Sometimes in the Bible we come across certain passages that are as

relevant and practical in our lives today as they were thousands of
years ago when they were first written. Today's readings are good
examples of such passages. Together they remind us that as faithful
Christians it is our responsibility to reach out to our not-so-faithful
brothers and sisters and bring them back into the fold. They even go on
to recommend practical steps on how to go about doing this.

A young woman, Lydia, strayed from the church as a teenager. After

nine years of experimenting with atheism, spiritism, and new age, she
found her way back again to the church, by the grace of God. Relating
her story, Lydia said that what hurt her the most in all her nine years of
spiritual exile is that nobody in the church missed her. Nobody ever
phoned or visited to find out what was wrong. "I got the impression
that the church does not want me," she said. Of course the church
wants her. But what are we doing to help the many men and women in
her situation find their way back into full communion with the church?
Today's readings invite us to review our I-don't-care attitude towards
fallen and lax members of the church, reminding us that, yes, it should
be our business to reach out to them.

Why should it be our business whether somebody else decides to serve

God or not? As members of the church, we are not just a priestly
people who offer sacrifice, we are also a prophetic people, meaning,
we are God's spokespersons. Today's first reading is, in fact, a compact
job description that God gave to the prophet Ezekiel on what it means
to be a prophetic person. To experience the force of the reading we
shall read it again, as if God is addressing the same message to us
today:

So you, N... (name of member), I have made a sentinel for N... (name
of church, parish or community); whenever you hear a word from
my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the
wicked, "O wicked ones, you shall surely die," and you do not
speak to warn the wicked to turn from their ways, the wicked shall
die in their iniquity, but their blood I will require at your hand.
But if you warn the wicked to turn from their ways, and they do
not turn from their ways, the wicked shall die in their iniquity, but
you will have saved your life (Ezekiel 33:7-9).

So now, what part of the "thou shalt not" do we not understand? The
clear and practical nature of this message is continued in the gospel,
where we are told not just what to do but how to do it.

"If another member of the church sins (against you), go and point
out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens
to you, you have regained that one" (Matthew 18:15). Some ancient
manuscripts do not have the words "against you." So we might be
dealing with the case of a fellow believer who offends us personally
("sins against you") or one who sins or errs in a general way as is the
case in the first reading. In either case the directive is that those who
are spiritually stronger (the offended party) take the initiative to reach
out to those who are spiritually weak (the offending and erring
member). What is at stake is how to bring an erring member back into
the fold, to full reconciliation and communion with God and with us.
The motivation for this kind of Christian action is to "regain" your
brother or sister, to restore the broken relationship, not primarily to
denounce or find out who is right or wrong.

The passage recommends a procedure in three stages: (1) Approach the

defaulting brother or sister person-to-person. (2) Go a second time
accompanied by one or two trusted companions. (3) Bring the case
before the local church. This may sound like a daunting procedure, but
the good news is that in nine cases out of ten, we may never need to go
beyond the first stage. An erring member approached in a personal and
courteous manner is happy to come back without much argument. Let
us thank God for the clear and practical message of today's readings.
As good hearers of God's word, the next step is for us to now go and
put it into practice.