WelCom September 2020
Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Gospel, Matthew 18:15-20
15‘If your brother does something wrong, go and have it out with him alone, between your two selves. If he listens to you, you have won back your brother.
16If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you: whatever the misdemeanour, the evidence of two or three witnesses is required to sustain the charge.
17But if he refuses to listen to these, report it to the community; and if he refuses to listen to the community, treat him like a gentile or a tax collector.
18‘In truth I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
19‘In truth I tell you once again, if two of you on earth agree to ask anything at all, it will be granted to you by my Father in heaven. 20For where two or three meet in my name, I am there among them.’
A reflection on Matthew 18: 15-20
He Kupu Whakaaroaro
Nā Rīkona Danny Karatea-Goddard
E mōhio ana tēnei, ka rangona tētehi kare ā roto mēnā kua hara taku mokopuna, te mea kotiro. I te ata, i te waka, i a māua e whakatakataka ana mō te hīkoi ki te kura, ka tau mai te ngū, ka pupuri ia ki taku ringa, ā ka mea mai ia, ‘E koro, me mōhio mai koe…? Na, ka whāki mai ngā kōrero.
He mea nui te ngākau pono to tōku mokopuna, tōna maia ki te kōrero tahi me au mō ngā take i ngā wā ka pā mai te kare ā roto, te whakaaro kua hara ā ia.
Hēoi, nā te aroha pūmau tētehi ki tētehi te mea ka taea e māua te kōrero. Ko te Storge, he aroha tō te matua ki te tamaiti, otirā te koroua ki tōna mokopuna. He aroha nui ake pea i te Philia, arā te aroha kei waenganui i ngā hoa, i ngā hoa mana taurite. He mea hanga ōrite ki te aroha kore here a te Atua ki te hunga tangata, arā ko te Agape.
I tēnei rā, ko te kupu Rongopai he kupu mākoha hoki nā Hēhu ki a tāua kia whakamaumahara tātou he whānau, he hapori tātou, ko te haepapa matua i a tātou hei kawe atu, ko tētehi momo aroha, ko ia ko te whakatika i te whanaunga kua hara.
Ko ia ko te whakatika fraternal i whakamanawahia e te aroha – he mea mahi tō te wairua atawhai motuhenga. E īnoi ana mātou kia tukuna mai tēnei aroha me te whakaaronui ki te rapu i te ara tika hei kawe i tēnei kaupapa aroha.
‘Na, ko te wāhi e whakaminea ai te hunga tokorua, tokotoru rānei, he whakaaro ki tōku ingoa, kei reira ahau kei waenganui i a rātou.’ I tēnei rā kia īnoi tātou mō te mōhiotanga me te māramatanga mō ēnei kupu nā Hēhu. Kia īnoi tātou mō ngā kanohi hōmiromiro me ngā tāringa whakarongo kia rongo atu kei waenga a Hehu i a tātou.
A Reflection
Deacon Danny Karatea-Goddard
I know, I get a feeling inside when my granddaughter does something wrong. In the car in the morning, getting ready to go to school there is a moment of silence, then she will hold my hand and say, ‘Koro, you know what …?’ Then comes the story.
I value my granddaughter’s openness, her confidence to share things with me especially when she feels she has been at fault.
But what allows the discussion to happen is the deep love we have for each other. Storge, a love of a parent for a child or a grandfather for his granddaughter. It is greater perhaps than Philia, a love of friends and equals. It is closer to God’s unconditional love for humanity, Agape.
In today’s Gospel Jesus is gently reminding us that by being family of the church community, we are responsible for one another, and one of our tasks of love may be that of correcting our brother or sister who errs.
Fraternal correction must always be inspired by real charity – it is one of the spiritual works of mercy. We pray to be given this love and the wisdom to find the right way to carry out this task of love.
‘Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.’ Let us pray today for a greater awareness and understanding of these words of Jesus. Let us pray for eyes to see and ears to hear Jesus among us.