The justice side of love

Good News ReflectionWednesday of the 19th Week in Ordinary TimeAugust 12, 2009
Today's Readings:Deut 34:1-12Ps 66:1-3a,5,8,16-17Matt 18:15-20http://www.usccb.org/nab/081209.shtmlUSCCB Podcast of the Readings:http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/09_08_12.mp3
The justice side of love
Sometimes we try so hard to be good Christians that we focus on the mercy side of love and neglect the other side of love: justice. As followers of Christ, we must love our enemies, but we must also let them reap what they sow, for this too is God's way of helping people discover his love.
We must continually forgive those who sin against us repeatedly, but we must also speak up and ask them to go and sin no more.
God sets up boundaries in love for everyone who's involved in any difficulty. Justice is the consequence of violating a boundary. In today's first reading, we see this in action. Earlier, Moses had crossed the line when he failed to be a good example to the people who observed and learned from him. Now, God would not let him lead the people all the way into the Promised Land.
In today's Gospel passage, Jesus describes how to protect boundaries:
1. The word no: When someone sins against you, tell him gently but firmly that it isn't right. In mercy, we forgive and we give people another chance. But if that doesn't stop the sin, we must speak a louder "no!" by bringing in support from those who can verify that the sinner is behaving harmfully and must stop. Again, we mercifully let go of the past and hope for the best. And if that too fails, we must back up our "no!" with the help of the larger Church community.
Then, if the abuse continues, we must protect the victims by treating the sinner like "a Gentile or a tax collector", i.e., a non-member of the Church, which means it's time to bring in the civil authorities (if the sin is an illegal activity) and to end the sinner's access to us. We never end the love, but we must treat that person as an outsider. It's the boundary of: "No, you must face the consequences of being separated from me until you've sincerely repented."
2. Binding and loosing: Tie up whatever needs to be tied up, and let go of whatever needs to go. In other words, the "Serenity Prayer": God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change (i.e., let loose the grip that the sin has had on you by letting go of your desire to change the sinner), the courage to change the things I can (i.e., bind the situation to God's power and to your own willingness to work hard to help), and the wisdom to know the difference.
3. Support: Don't endure it alone. In wanting to avoid the sin of gossip, we tend to share too little with others. Jesus, however, tells us that we experience his nearness and the Father's power when we're in the prayer support of friends. We're to find two or three Christian companions who understand the issues and who will love the sinner while praying for him or her to repent. Their help affirms that we're doing what's right and necessary; without them we become vulnerable and succumb to doubt about ourselves and our mission to help the sinner reach conversion.
God has already set up protective boundaries against evil through his commandments. You and I are called to stand with him on the holy side of the line and make it plainly visible to those who don't see it or don't want to see it. This is very vital to bringing God's love more fully into the world.
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