DOCTRINE AND FAITH (Ezek 33,7-9; Romans 13,8-10; Matt18,15-20: 23rd Sunday of Year A)

DOCTRINE AND FAITH

(Ezek 33,7-9; Romans 13,8-10; Matt18,15-20: 23rd Sunday of Year A)

 Today’s gospel reading reflects various aspects of the Church, or the community of believers and its internal life. 

• Firstly, a Church comes into being when some people are unite in the name of Christ. Being united in the name of Christ would indicate united in faith and love with the strong desire to follow Christ and to put his gospel teachings into practice. Those who are united in Christ are beneficiaries of his redemption, participants in his divine life and embodiments of the vivifying and sanctifying Holy Spirit of God. 
• Secondly, the church is a community where Christ is invisibly but really present. Christ himself enunciated: Where two or three are united in my name, I am in the midst of them. Christ is present in the Sacraments and particularly in the Eucharist, in the sacrifice, which is re-enacted perennially in the Holy Mass. Christ is also present in his Word, which is proclaimed and preached. He is present in the Pope and the Bishops: Jesus said: he who listens to you listens to me. Christ is as well present in the church, through, the assistance of the Holy Spirit which he promised and actually sends continually. He is also present in his intimate union with the Christians through the grace by which  every member of the mystical body is united to him as their head, in the same way as the branches of a vine are untied to the trunk. Every soul that is united to Christ through grace is a temple of God and the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. 
  
• Thirdly, the church that is, the community of believers, no matter how small the number could be, is a community that prays in unity and when they pray they have the consciousness and certainty that their prayer would be answered by God the Father.The community prayer, especially the liturgical  prayer, is an essential component of the Christian community. The certainty of being answered is guaranteed by Christ: ... if two of you on earth agree to ask anything at all, it will be granted to you by my Father in heaven. This certainty is not based on the merit of any single believer, or that of the community but on the merits of Christ and his presence in the Church, where he intercedes for the believers. We normally conclude the Eucharistic prayer at Mass thus:Through Christ with him and in him... 
• Fourthly, the Christian community is one to which Jesus gave the power to bind and unbind: I tell you solemnly, whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven. This means that when a Christian community is in communion with her very pastors (the Pope and Bishops) she has the power and authority to judge the following: what is in harmony or disharmony with the faith; what conforms and does not conform with the will of God. It is also the prerogative of the Christian community to determine those who are effectively part of the community and those who are outside it, on account of their comportment or by their teaching. It also behoves the Christian community to declare anyone who does not listen to the community excommunicated, which means that the person is not in communion with the Church. 
  
• Fifthly, the Christian community is a community in which all work towards the good of the community. All are co-responsible for the well being and correct functioning of the community. All members of the Christian community need to feel that they are sentinels, for the good of the community, as we can learn from the first reading. The feeling of being co-responsible for the community is to be concretely expressed in fraternal correction that is to be done with love. This does not admit poisonous criticisms, or divisive murmurings or rash judgement but the correction of a brother by a brother. When the brother accepts the advice he is saved. In that manner, one would be contributing to the salvation of the brother or sister. The first reading makes it imperative to correct our erring brothers and sisters. Correcting one another with love should be second nature to every Christian everywhere and every time. Fraternal correction becomes easier when there is mutual love within the Christian community. 

The Christian community is actually one in reality when it is a community of brothers and sisters in faith and love. St. Paul tells us in the second reading: Do not owe anyone anything, except mutual love. This is to say that mutual  and reciprocal love, is debt we cannot finish paying for, and a duty we cannot stop attending to. On the other hand, if there is love, there is everything. Paul enunciates this principle when he said: All the commandments... are summed up in one single command: you must love your neighbour as yourself. 

On this Sunday, it is very pertinent to ask ourselves if we are really conscious of the profound reality of the Church, the great privilege it is to be a member of the Church. We have to examine, particularly, if we have really succeeded, or at least are making effort, to realise the different traits of the authentic Christian community (as outlined above) in our lives in our families, zones, stations and parishes. May we, in thisSunday’s Eucharistic celebration, aided by the Holy Spirit, ask God the Father, through our Lord Jesus Christ for all the graces we need in order to fully belong, with our hearts and mind to the Christian community and to actively live out the traits of a good Christian Community. Happy Sunday! 

+John I. Okoye