Failure to keep to God’s Instruction

 

Jesus affirms that praying with others makes our prayer efficacious.

Reflection on Today’s Readings, Wednesday of 19th Week in Ordinary Time, Year I, August 16th, 2023
Texts: Deuteronomy 34:1-12; Psalm 66:1-3,5,16-17; Matthew 18:15-20 

One thing that can prevent us from possessing the kingdom of God is sin. This is truth in the life of Moses. This was a man whom God knew face to face; no one was like him for all the signs and wonders he did by God’s power. He remained an ideal for all prophets. Moses did not enter the Promised Land because of his failure to keep to God’s instruction. However, God showed him the Promised Land. The vision of the Land was his reward for his faithfulness till the end. Seeing the Land is a show of God’s love for him and his possession of the Promised Land.  

Jesus Christ admonishes us today to save one another from sin. He makes a call to redeem others from sin. He puts it thus: "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.” He asks us to explore every means possible to redeem others from sin. We are not to give up on our brother until we run the full course of possible actions to save him. Resolving issues with a brother who sinned against us enhances bodily and spiritual wellness. It saves us from hatred, bitterness, malice and grudges.  

The benefits of redeeming others from sin

Jesus goes further to speak of the benefits of redeeming others from sin. Such a way of life enhances our authority to bind and loose. Jesus says, “Truly, 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.”  

When we gain our brothers we have people to join us in praying and worshipping God. Jesus affirms that praying with others makes our prayer efficacious and also assures us of Christ’s presence. He puts it thus: “Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them." 

Prayer  

Almighty ever-living God, we acknowledge our sinfulness, help us to heed the call to repent from our brothers; give us the courage and wisdom to tell our brothers their fault. Amen  

Fr. Andrew Olowomuke