The document discusses the importance of fraternal correction and responsibility towards others based on biblical readings from Ezekiel, Romans, and Matthew. It emphasizes that individuals must warn and guide those who err to avoid collective punishment, and that love is the fulfillment of the law. It also outlines practical steps for addressing wrongdoing within the community while fostering a sense of collective worship and responsibility.

1. Welcome to our Bible
Study
23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time A
7 September 2014
In preparation for this Sunday’s Liturgy
In aid of focusing our homilies and sharing
Prepared by Fr. Cielo R. Almazan, OFM

2. 1st reading: Ezekiel 33:7-9
• 7 You, son of man, I have appointed watchman
for the house of Israel; when you hear me say
anything, you shall warn them for me. 8 If I tell
the wicked man that he shall surely die, and you
do not speak out to dissuade the wicked man
from his way, he (the wicked man) shall die for
his guilt, but I will hold you responsible for his
death. 9 But if you warn the wicked man, trying
to turn him from his way, and he refuses to turn
from his way, he shall die for his guilt, but you
shall save yourself.
The focus is on responsibility to others.

3. 1st reading: Ezekiel 33:7-9
Being a watchman
• 7 You, son of man, I have appointed watchman for the
house of Israel; when you hear me say anything, you
shall warn them for me.
Being responsible
• 8 If I tell the wicked man that he shall surely die, and you
do not speak out to dissuade the wicked man from his
way, he (the wicked man) shall die for his guilt, but I will
hold you responsible for his death.
• 9 But if you warn the wicked man, trying to turn him from
his way, and he refuses to turn from his way, he shall die
for his guilt, but you shall save yourself.
A simple outline!

4. 1st reading: Ezekiel 33:7-9
Being a watchman
• 7 You, son of man, I have
appointed watchman for the
house of Israel; when you
hear me say anything, you
shall warn them for me.
Being responsible
• 8 If I tell the wicked man
that he shall surely die, and
you do not speak out to
dissuade the wicked man
from his way, he (the
wicked man) shall die for
his guilt, but I will hold you
responsible for his death.
• 9 But if you warn the
wicked man, trying to turn
him from his way, and he
refuses to turn from his
way, he shall die for his
guilt, but you shall save
yourself.
Commentary
• In v.7, “the son of man” may be the
prophet, or, someone else.
• God speaks to the “son of man.”
• God appoints him as a watchman, to take
care of the Israelites.
• The son of man will communicate to them
whatever he hears from God.
• In v.8, God holds responsible to the “son
of man” those who do nothing for the
good of his neighbor.
• As the sinner dies for his sins and guilt,
so does she or he who has not done
anything to dissuade him from sinning.
• In v.9, God assures “the son of man”, who
takes pain to remind the wicked to stop
sinning, that he will not die.
• His effort will spare him from death.
• We can be “the son of man.”

5. Reflections on the 1st reading
• It is true that everybody should be responsible for his/her
own actions.
• God punishes us according to our actions.
• But the reading carries a special message for us. It is a
warning for us, who do not care about our sister or
brother even if we see her or him doing wrong.
• We, people of God, must feel responsible for our erring
sisters and brothers.
• We cannot condone anyone committing a crime or even
an ordinary sin.
• If we do not do anything to remind, or correct, the sinner
or the wicked and then he dies (or is punished), we will
undergo the same fate.

6. Resp. Ps 95:1-2. 6-7. 8-9
• R. (8)If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
1 Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;
let us acclaim the rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us joyfully sing psalms to him.
• 6 Come, let us bow down in worship;
let us kneel before the LORD who made us.
7 For he is our God,
and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.
• Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
8 "Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the desert,
9 Where your fathers tempted me;
they tested me though they had seen my works."

7. Resp. Ps 95:1-2. 6-7. 8-9
• R. (8)If today you hear his voice, harden
not your hearts.
1 Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;
let us acclaim the rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come into his presence with
thanksgiving;
let us joyfully sing psalms to him.
• 6 Come, let us bow down in worship;
let us kneel before the LORD who made
us.
7 For he is our God,
and we are the people he shepherds, the
flock he guides.
• Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
8 "Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the desert,
9 Where your fathers tempted me;
they tested me though they had seen my
works."
Commentary
•Vv.1,2 and 6 invite us to pay homage to
God.
•We do this by:
– Singing joyfully, v.1
– Acclaiming him, v.1
– Coming into his presence, v.2
– Singing psalms, v.2
– Bowing down, kneeling down, v.6
•V.7 gives the reason why we worship
God:
– He is our God
– We are his people.
•Vv.8-9 exhort us to listen to God, not to
imitate the Israelites in the desert, who
hardened their hearts.

8. Reflections on the Psalm
• Our lives must be spent in worship to God.
• We are not living for ourselves but for God.
• Our worship is to be done communally.
• To worship God we must have good relationship
with God and with the community.
• What a waste of life when it is spent without
acknowledging God and without a community!

9. 2nd reading: Romans 13:8-10
• 8 Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one
another; for the one who loves another has
fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, "You
shall not commit adultery; you shall not kill; you
shall not steal; you shall not covet," and
whatever other commandment there may be,
are summed up in this saying, (namely) "You
shall love your neighbor as yourself." 10 Love
does no evil to the neighbor; hence, love is the
fulfillment of the law.
The focus is on love of neighbor.

10. 2nd reading: Romans 13:8-10
Love fulfills the law
• 8 Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another; for
the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
The commandments to love
• 9 The commandments, "You shall not commit adultery;
you shall not kill; you shall not steal; you shall not covet,"
and whatever other commandment there may be, are
summed up in this saying, (namely) "You shall love your
neighbor as yourself."
Love fulfills the law
• 10 Love does no evil to the neighbor; hence, love is the
fulfillment of the law.
A simple outline!

11. 2nd reading: Romans 13:8-10
Love fulfills the law
• 8 Owe nothing to anyone,
except to love one another;
for the one who loves another
has fulfilled the law.
The commandments to love
• 9 The commandments, "You
shall not commit adultery; you
shall not kill; you shall not
steal; you shall not covet,"
and whatever other
commandment there may be,
are summed up in this
saying, (namely) "You shall
love your neighbor as
yourself."
Love fulfills the law
• 10 Love does no evil to the
neighbor; hence, love is the
fulfillment of the law.
Commentary
• In v.8, St. Paul gives importance to
loving one another. Loving one
another fulfills the law.
• Christians should realize that they
have a primary obligation to love.
• Love here is not emotionalism. “I
love when I feel like loving.”
• V.9 spells out concrete proposals on
how to love others.
– No adultery (no illicit relationships)
– No killing (no shedding blood)
– No stealing / coveting (no depriving
of other people’s rights)
• After all these avoidances, we have
a positive commandment:
– “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
• V.10 repeats v.8, only in another
formulation.
– Love fulfills the law.

12. Reflections on the 2nd reading
• We, Christians, are indebted to one another.
• We owe nothing more than loving one another.
• Love is the name of the game.
• In love, we keep the commandments.
• In love, we do no harm to anyone.
• Whether we like it or not, we should love.
• It is a Christian imperative.
• Don’t you feel obliged to love?

13. Gospel reading: Matthew 18:15-20
• 15 "If your brother sins (against you), go and tell him his
fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you
have won over your brother. 16 If he does not listen, take
one or two others along with you, so that 'every fact may
be established on the testimony of two or three
witnesses.' 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell the
church. If he refuses to listen even to the church, then
treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector.
• 18 Amen, 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.
• 19 Again, (amen,) I say to you, if two of you agree on
earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be
granted to them by my heavenly Father. 20 For where
two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I
in the midst of them."
The focus is on fraternal correction.

14. Gospel reading: Matthew 18:15-20
Fraternal correction
• 15 "If your brother sins (against you), go and tell him his fault
between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won
over your brother. 16 If he does not listen, take one or two others
along with you, so that 'every fact may be established on the
testimony of two or three witnesses.' 17 If he refuses to listen to
them, tell the church. If he refuses to listen even to the church,
then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector.
Binding and loosing
• 18 Amen, 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.
Praying together
• 19 Again, (amen,) I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about
anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by
my heavenly Father. 20 For where two or three are gathered
together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."
A simple outline!

15. Gospel reading: Matthew 18:15-20
Fraternal correction
• 15 "If your brother sins (against you), go
and tell him his fault between you and him
alone. If he listens to you, you have won
over your brother. 16 If he does not listen,
take one or two others along with you, so
that 'every fact may be established on the
testimony of two or three witnesses.' 17 If
he refuses to listen to them, tell the
church. If he refuses to listen even to the
church, then treat him as you would a
Gentile or a tax collector.
Binding and loosing
• 18 Amen, 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.
Praying together
• 19 Again, (amen,) I say to you, if two of
you agree on earth about anything for
which they are to pray, it shall be granted
to them by my heavenly Father. 20 For
where two or three are gathered together
in my name, there am I in the midst of
them."
Commentary
• Vv.15-17 is about fraternal
correction.
• Fraternal correction is
taken step by step:
– Step 1: you and your
erring sister or brother in
private
– Step 2: you, your
companion and your erring
sister or brother
– Step 3: you and the
community.
• The sinner can be cast out
of the community if he/she
does not listen to the
majority.
• In v.18, those responsible
in the church have the
power and authority to
accept or reject members.

16. Gospel reading: Matthew 18:15-20
Fraternal correction
• 15 "If your brother sins (against you), go
and tell him his fault between you and him
alone. If he listens to you, you have won
over your brother. 16 If he does not listen,
take one or two others along with you, so
that 'every fact may be established on the
testimony of two or three witnesses.' 17 If
he refuses to listen to them, tell the
church. If he refuses to listen even to the
church, then treat him as you would a
Gentile or a tax collector.
Binding and loosing
• 18 Amen, 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.
Praying together
• 19 Again, (amen,) I say to you, if two of
you agree on earth about anything for
which they are to pray, it shall be granted
to them by my heavenly Father. 20 For
where two or three are gathered together
in my name, there am I in the midst of
them."
• Vv.19-20 teach the
importance of praying
together.
• God grants the petition of
people praying together,
praying in a community.
• God is present in a praying
community.

17. Reflections on the gospel reading
• Part of Christian commitment is to fraternally correct our
erring brothers and sisters.
• In our communities, we don’t tolerate evil deeds and
behaviors unbecoming of a Christian.
• No one is licensed or at liberty to harm anyone in our
communities.
• We are also authorized to weed out members, who keep
inflicting damage to our community, after due process.
• Without obedience to the rules of charity, we cannot pray
together and build our community.

18. Tying the 3 readings and the Psalm
• The first reading talks about responsibility to our erring
brothers and sisters.
• The psalm encourages us to worship God and to avoid
the mistakes of the Israelites in the desert.
• The second reading talks about loving one another.
Responsible Christians should take care not to err.
• The gospel reading talks about how to correct our erring
brothers and sisters.
The focus of our homilies or sharing should be on fraternal correction.

19. How to develop your homily / sharing
• How do you correct your erring sister or brother?
• Do you put him/her to shame in public?
• Do you punish him/her right away?
• The 3 readings teach us how to correct our
erring sisters and brothers.

20. • The first reading obliges us to warn those whose deeds
are wicked.
• God punishes people for their wicked deeds.
• We, too, can be punished like them, if we don’t correct
them.
• We are responsible for them. We are our brothers’ and
sisters’ keepers.

21. • The gospel reading instructs us how to correct our erring
brothers and sisters.
• First of all, we must be fraternal. Correction should be
done with respect and love.
• Second, we must observe due process.
• Third, we are only authorized to drive the sinner away if
there is no hope of changing her or him.
• We are also obliged to protect our communities from
people who create scandals and inflict undue sufferings
to the innocent members.

22. • The second reading talks about love.
• In the first place, Christians should be people of
love.
• If we have love, we do not harm any of our
sisters and brothers.
• If we love, we do not need to be corrected by the
other members of the community.

23. • In our churches, we always find some unruly
ministers or troublemakers.
– They disturb the smooth flow of our liturgy and other
activities.
– They talk ill against their priests and their fellow
ministers.
– They create scandal.
– These are the people who don’t have love at all.
• Those who have love must exercise patience in
correcting them.

24. • Christians must take courage to correct erring brothers
and sisters.
• They should also correct erring church or public officials.
• These officials err when they are negligent of their duties,
or when they are oppressive, or when they take
advantage of their positions.
• Christians must be prophetic to them, i.e., must speak out
loud and work hard to remove them if they don’t change.

25. • The eucharist is the reward of those who take
responsibility for their erring sisters and brothers.
• Fraternal corrections lead people to a more meaningful
celebration of the eucharist.
• The eucharist is for those who know how to deal with the
wayward members of the family and community.

26. Our Context of Sin and Grace
• Washing of hands
• Abrupt decisions
• No concern
• Indifferent
• Consentidor
• Afraid to speak out
• Afraid to correct the
wrong
• Lack of prophetism
• Constructive criticism
• Fraternal correction
• Treating others with
delicadeza
• Due process
• Warnings
• Prayer groups
• Loving persons
• Art of correcting
• Psychological help
• Special intervention

27. Suggested Songs
• Pananagutan
• Service
• Buhay Maging Maligaya
– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh0VyqcYK3I