OXYGEN

07 Sep - Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Christ Who Paid The Debt Of Love

Christ became our brother and sister and made himself responsible for us, his brothers and sisters. He contracted the debt of mutual love. All he asks of us is that we should do the same.

 - the Sunday Missal

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Ezekiel 33:7-9

Son of man, I have appointed you as sentry to the House of Israel. When you hear a word from my mouth, warn them in my name. If I say to a wicked man: Wicked wretch, you are to die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked man to renounce his ways, then he shall die for his sin, but I will hold you responsible for his death. If, however, you do warn a wicked man to renounce his ways and repent, and he does not repent, then he shall die for his sin, but you yourself will have saved your life.

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Romans 13:8-10

Avoid getting into debt, except the debt of mutual love. If you love your fellow men you have carried out your obligations. All the commandments: You shall not commit adultery, you shall not kill, you shall not steal, you shall not covet, and so on, are summed up in this single command: You must love your neighbour as yourself. Love is the one thing that cannot hurt your neighbour; that is why it is the answer to every one of the commandments.

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Matthew 15:15-20

Jesus said, ‘If your brother does something wrong, go and have it out with him alone, is between your two selves. If he listens to you, you have won back your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you: the evidence of two or three witnesses is required to sustain any charge. But 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 pagan or a tax collector.

‘I tell you solemnly, whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.

‘I tell you solemnly 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. For where two or three meet in my name, I shall be there with them.’

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Love is the one thing that cannot hurt your neighbour.

As an only child, it has always been difficult for me to understand the meaning of what the gospel teaches us about loving our brothers and sisters. I have never experienced the love of a brother or sister who is related to me by blood, so the most that I can do is to observe others who have siblings in the way they relate to one another and learn from them.

What I have learnt from my best friends is this: brothers and sisters care for one another and they look out for one another. When a sibling is not behaving in the way he is supposed to, another sibling will talk it out with him first. If he doesn’t listen, the sibling gathers all the other siblings to try to talk with him. If he still doesn’t want to listen, the siblings give special attention to this sibling and go all out to reach out to him. I’m not repeating this from the gospel reading; I am sharing this from my observation of a set of siblings that I know.

This is how Jesus wants us to behave in a Christian family - each one looking out for each other, and above all, preserving unity within the family. A good sibling is one who, when he sees another sibling behaving in a way that is harmful to himself, will approach him and talk it out with him. Conversely, a sibling who does not love is one who will leave it to the other to take care of himself. This apathetic behaviour is not what Jesus wants His brothers and sisters to have.

Spend a moment and think of the first person that comes to mind the moment you see the word “brothers and sisters”. Focus your attention on this person and ask yourself, “How can I be a better brother (or sister) to this person?

(Today’s sharing by Daniel Tay)

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Prayer: Dear Lord, grant us the courage to practise fraternal correction when we see our brother (or sister) misbehaving.

Thanksgiving: We give thanks to the Lord, our older brother, for never being afraid of correcting us.

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Upcoming readings:

Mon, 08 Sep - Micah 5:1-4a or Romans 8:28-30, Matthew1:1-16, 18-23; Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Tue, 09 Sep - 1 Cor 6:1-11, Luke 6:12-19; St Peter Claver, religious, priest, missionary
Wed, 10 Sep - 1 Cor 7:25-31, Luke 6:20-26
Thu, 11 Sep - 1 Cor 8:1-7. 11-13, Luke 6:27-38
Friday, 12 Sep - 1 Cor 9:16-19. 22b-27, Luke 6:39-42; Holy Name of Mary
Saturday, 13 Sep - 1 Cor 10:14-22, Luke 6:43-49; St John Chrysostom, Bishop, doctor of the Church

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