Sept 4, 2011 - 23rd Sun of OT - Of Working Together / Back to Work Concerns

Readings - http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/090411.cfm

We find ourselves at the beginning of September.  In the United States we celebrate Labor Day this weekend and this weekend has traditionally come to mark the end of the Summer for us here.

And the Readings that we hear today can help us to reorient ourselves from the summer which is generally a time of rest and relaxation, to the fall, which to most of us means “back to work,” “back to school,” “back to real life.” 

In the life of a parish, “back to work,” “back to real life” means back to “a lot of meetings.”  And with meetings come inevitable conflicts.

So the Gospel Reading offers a gentle suggestion of how to deal with a ‘brother’ causing problems.  We’re advised not to embarrass the brother, to try to turn him back gently, privately.  If that doesn’t work then to call in a few witnesses, to document the case.  If that doesn’t work to bring the matter up to the whole Church/community.  And finally if that doesn’t work to simply consider the person someone outside the community from then on (as a pagan or tax collector ...).

But the Gospel Reading does not stop there.  Nor is it the only the only Reading that we hear today.

We are reminded by the rest of the Gospel Reading (and then by the other two readings, the first and especially the second from St. Paul) that the purpose of such correction is _not_ to prove our superiority over that person but (1) to literally save that person’s life (the first reading from Ezekiel) and (2) to recognize that we are a community of love (the second reading from St. Paul).

Indeed, we are reminded at the end of the Gospel Reading that when 2-3 are gathered in Jesus’ name that Jesus is present and that whenever 2-3 together ask God for anything that it will be granted them.

So the reprimand of the wayward brother (or sister) is _not_ to look for pretexts to expel him/her, so that we could “be right” (or perhaps to get a “better position” in the Church, or even society).  It’s only to remind us that we really are “in this together,” and are being asked to work as brothers and sisters toward a common goal – heaven, the Kingdom of God – and yes, one’s selfishness, egotism, or problematics, can distract, derail us from this goal.

But let’s be clear, we need everybody.  Even the person expelled from the community is, in fact, to be missed.  His/her absence does (and, in fact, by definition) diminish the whole.   And indeed, even if we often focus on _the problems_ that someone may pose us, _all of us_ are more than just a summation of our sins or failings. 

So conflicts do diminish us.  They diminish the life of families, they diminish life of communities, they diminish life in parishes.
 
So then, as we approach a new beginning of the “busy time of the year,” let us take this time to seek to put aside the temptation to be “petty” and seek to work for the benefit of all, for the benefit of the parish and indeed the for the benefit of the Kingdom of God.

(And if we reflect on this, it ought to be clear, that this working toward a common purpose has been, in fact, largely the goal of the labor movement that we remember in this country during this weekend as well).

So God bless you all, and may we work together to make this a better parish, better community and better world in the year to come.