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Gospel Reading for August 14, 2024 – Matthew 18: 15-20
EMOTIONAL GARBAGE
Jesus said to his disciples: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell the Church. If he refuses to listen even to the Church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector. Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again, amen, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
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In Matthew 18: 21-22, “. . . Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” Jesus teaches us to forgive those who have sinned against us, but he tells us the need to talk to the one who sinned against us. We have to exhaust all ways to resolve the conflict first. If everything does not work out, we treat the person as Jesus treated the Gentiles and tax collectors – with COMPASSION and UNDERSTANDING.
Most often, our sinful actions are triggered by our EMOTIONAL GARBAGE: unfinished emotional issues, stressors, pain, and difficulties or hurts we have experienced that continue to affect us. The bullies in school were not born bullies. A lot have become bullies because their self-esteem wasn’t built up at home, are experiencing jealousy and anger within the family, and bullying somewhere else makes them feel superior over others, especially picking on the weak ones. How many of road rages happen because one of them left the house very angry and took it out on another driver on the road? There are those of us who always like to gossip about the lives of others because we are very unhappy about our own lives. We don’t want to be alone in our misery. A lot of husbands who are wife-beaters experienced physical abuse from their own parents when they were children. There must be thousands of reasons why we offend others, but most of them have something to do with our hurtful experiences, or the kind of life we had while growing up. The more we get to know the people who hurt us, the easier it will be for us to forgive. This is why COMPASSION and UNDERSTANDING is what Jesus always preaches.
Lord Jesus, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who tresspass against us!
