“But if thy brother shall offend against thee, go, and rebuke him between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou shalt gain thy brother. And if he will not hear thee, take with thee one or two more: that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may stand. And if he will not hear them: tell the church. And if he will not hear the church, let him be to thee as the heathen and publican. Amen I say to you, whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven. Again I say to you, that if two of you shall consent upon earth, concerning any thing whatsoever they shall ask, it shall be done to them by my Father who is in heaven. For where there are two or three gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
Without tending, a rose bush grows out of control and stops being beautiful: “The flowers have appeared in our land, the time of pruning is come” (Canticle 2:12), and without correction, one cannot make the flowers of their love bloom in a shapely manner: “He that loveth correction, loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is foolish” (Proverbs 12:1), and here Jesus points out that to prune our fellow Christians with great love is a necessary act of mercy: “It is better to be rebuked by a wise man, than to be deceived by the flattery of fools” (Ecclesiastes 7:6). When your neighbor sins against you, they are harming their own soul, and merciful love seeks to put a stop to such self-destruction: “Rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee” (Proverbs 9:8), for you will have led them from a snare into what is beautiful: “My eyes are ever towards the Lord: for he shall pluck my feet out of the snare” (Psalm 24:15). Forgive first, that there be no bitterness in your heart, then go with a warm heart and present the correction as medicine laced with sugar, adorn fraternal correction with love, and it will be welcomed rather than spurned: “By what doth a young man correct his way? By observing thy words” (Psalm 118:9). It is not a call to accuse, mock, or demand restitution, for Wisdom says: “The learning of a man is known by patience: and his glory is to pass over wrongs” (Proverbs 19:11) by throwing them into the furnace of merciful love that the Holy Spirit has ignited in his heart, but to go with love and wisdom and help the one at fault out of a fall: “If one fall he shall be supported by the other: woe to him that is alone, for when he falleth, he hath none to lift him up” (Ecclesiastes 4:10). It is glorious to consider yourself uninjured, that your love may not be impeded: “Behold, I have given you power to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall hurt you” (Luke 10:19), but to publish a fault before others will harden the heart of the offender, and drive a wedge between the two of you. If you rebuke someone without concern for the state of their soul, you do it for your own sake, but if you seek to bandage a wound and succeed, you gain your neighbor and thereby the treasure of a soul unbound: “My brethren, if any of you err from the truth, and one convert him: he must know that he who causeth a sinner to be converted from the error of his way, shall save his soul from death, and shall cover a multitude of sins” (James 5:19-20). However, if there is a refusal to be pruned, such as a child wrangling their way out of the hands of a doctor, then the Lord calls for one or two helpers that can help apply the medicine of love and truth, rather than turning to disdain and hate: “Brethren, and if a man be overtaken in any fault, you, who are spiritual, instruct such a one in the spirit of meekness” (Galatians 6:1). A crafty and loving physician, when faced with a difficult illness, does not fold in his efforts to cure the disease, but sets to more intense work and calls in aid, that the meeting of multiple minds may yield an extraordinary new fruit, and by being met with a net of truth and wisdom, they may be brought in to the shores of goodness: “Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and you shall find” (John 21:6). However, without this, and in the case of a fault that is grave and especially if it is seen by others, Jesus says to go to a priest or a leader of the Church, and without this, to no longer be numbered among the Catholic family. However, this is not to neglect their salvation, for love in line with God desires the salvation of all: “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3-4), but to be in greater horror at their behavior than that of those outside the Church, for they bear the name of Christ and thereby tarnish His image: “And there shall be in the temple the abomination of desolation” (Daniel 9:27). Thus should there be an attempt to amend the Catholic that is lost in sin, that their temple may be radiant and golden: “And there was nothing in the temple that was not covered with gold” (3 Kings 6:22), not corrupted, pitiful, and hideous to those that look on: “And they have turned the ornament of their jewels into pride, and have made of it the images of their abominations, and idols: therefore I have made it an uncleanness to them” (Ezechiel 7:19), for all that are in the Church represent the Church, and thus their every word and action should be laced with Christian dignity: “But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall render an account for it in the day of judgment” (Matthew 12:36). It is a call to adorn the life of love with true splendor, with the true goods of human life, such as wisdom, virtue, kindness, joy, and peace: “And I brought you into the land of Carmel, to eat the fruit thereof, and the best things thereof” (Jeremias 2:7), and to raise those around you to seeking such wonders as well. Now, if one were to be exiled from the Church and declare an anathema on the one that excommunicated him in turn, this would be simply confusing, but Jesus in His wisdom gives branches of authority, that whomever those with this authority leave entangled in sin due to obstinance will have the authority to do so: “If any man love not our Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema, maranatha” (1 Corinthians 16:22), but to receive the merciful love of God is to be loosed and freed. Or, this can mean that to hold one as a foreigner with just cause is to bind, but to correct fruitfully is to loosen from the bonds of sin, that they may be free to follow the good, true, and beautiful, that is, to live the life of true love. Jesus then concludes this discourse with the emphasis on sharing spiritual goods, for treasures, even those of the soul, are not found to be stored away and perched upon like a dragon, but lavishly shared: “God said to him: ‘Thou fool, this night do they require thy soul of thee: and whose shall those things be which thou hast provided?’ So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich towards God” (Luke 12:20-21). Jesus had been exhorting His people to unity, to bring back those that were straying, and cut off those that were resilient in staying astray, that His people may be one: “Careful to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3), and now rewards those that worship, pray, and live together in the bond of love. When two are gathered in His name, that is, not merely in love for each other, but out of abundance of love for God are in communion, doing good to and with each other for His sake, He is there with them. It is a call to harmony, for if the voices are not in harmony, or if one is trying to sing a part not agreeable to him, the whole song will sound incorrect, but when His people are gathered in unity of love, doctrine, and desire, that is, the love of God: “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31), sweet songs arise to God. It is said of Saints Francis and Clare that their conversations about God were so fiery and filled with love that some would think the building would be aflame, when in reality their mutual love of God brought forth this brilliance. Finally, this can be a return to the harmony of the soul, for where one’s mind, heart, and desires are all anointed with love and racing to the same object, which is God, glory comes: “He that is evil to himself, to whom will he be good? And he shall not take pleasure in his goods” (Ecclesiasticus 14:5); “A cheerful and good heart is always feasting: for his banquets are prepared with diligence” (Ecclesiasticus 30:27). From this, when your will is aligned with the love of God, and you are in harmony with yourself, you will attain immense treasures by prayer, for you aren’t asking according to desire, but according to love.