Posted by The WORD in other words (2023) by Fr Antonio Pernia SVD – Divine Word Mission Institute, Tagaytay City
Wednesday 19th Week in Ordinary Time
Ecclesia semper reformanda – the Church always in need of being reformed. This ancient dictum underlines the reality that as Church, we are a community of saints and sinners. Adolf Hitler was a baptized Catholic. But so also was Mother Teresa of Calcutta. We belong to a Church with saintly priests, such as Padre Pio. But the same Church also has priests who have abused minors. Our Church indeed is divine but also human. It is the Church of Jesus Christ, but it is also a community of people like you and me.
In this light, we need to read today’s gospel. Based on this gospel passage, a venerable tradition in the Church has developed called Correctio Fraterna or Fraternal Correction – a tradition which centers on the obligation to correct an erring brother or sister or a member who has gone astray. This is an obligation that we usually shy away from. Indeed, today, we show a great dislike for “unsolicited advice” and even more so for an “unsolicited correction or rebuke.” And yet, the truth is that our sins or mistakes affect not only us but also those around us.
Understood correctly, “fraternal correction” is an act of correction done in a fraternal spirit. It is correction done to a brother or a sister, with that relationship of brother or sister always remaining despite the correction being made. And so, this is an act that is done in charity, seeking only the good of the other, as well as an act done in humility, because the one who gives the correction needs to be aware that he or she too needs to be corrected in his or her turn.
The reason why fraternal correction can be done in the community is the fact that the Church is a community where Christ is present. “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them.” In other words, even when we gather for fraternal correction, we must gather in the name of Jesus because if we do so, he is in our midst, and correction can be done in charity.
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