Gospel: Matthew 18:15-20
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.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
The Mass intention is for Liam Dunne RIP.
Reflection:
Bishop Robert Barron, commenting on today’s Gospel, wrote: “It is a peculiarity of Christian prayer that it is not so much directed to God who stands outside of the one who prays, but rather that it takes place, if I can put it this way, within God”. Indeed, at Mass, for example, we make our prayers “through Christ our Lord”. The good bishop explains that because of baptism, we pray as “sons and daughters in the Son (i.e. Jesus)”. As such, we pray “as it were, in the Son’s own voice and intentionality”. Isn’t that wonderful? Gathering in prayer as a community or as a family meant praying with Jesus who is our Mediator to the Father.
Some people have dismissed the value of going to Mass with the excuse of “I can pray at home on my own!”. They have missed the point of what Jesus is telling in today’s Gospel. God became one of us in the person of Jesus because He wishes to have that personal relationship with each of us. Furthermore, because God has three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – He desires His people to mirror this mystery in the community of believers, the Church. “When Jesus prays with us, in our very
midst, we are included in the conversation whispered back and forth between the Father and the Son from all eternity” (Bishop Barron). What else can we ask for?
· What does the Sign of the Cross mean for you every time you start and end your prayer with it?
· How often do you pray with your family and/or community?
· How do you value praying with your family and/or community?
Lord Jesus, thank You for Your Word today. Send forth Your Spirit so that we may always be united with You in that loving conversation with the Father. Amen.
Sincerely,
Pietro
22.4.2010: Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna