Accountable, responsible Christians
We must lovingly and prudently correct each other when we err, forgive those who offend us, and ask forgiveness from those we have offended.
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We must lovingly and prudently correct each other when we err, forgive those who offend us, and ask forgiveness from those we have offended.
Are you aware that we have a spiritual responsibility and individual accountability for others in our families, parishes, workplace and community?
As children of God, brothers and sisters in Christ, we become each other’s “keeper” and take on a painful triple responsibility.
We must lovingly and prudently correct each other when we err, forgive those who offend us and ask forgiveness from those we have offended.
The love we have for one another should be our only reason for admonishing and correcting the sinner. Love seeks the good of the one who is loved. Therefore, we should admonish one another with love, so that each of us may repent and grow in holiness.
I once said in an online discussion that a concerned citizen could step in and correct any two or three people who are arguing, shouting, and fighting — especially if things are turning physical — but the problem is that no one wants to intervene for fear of getting dragged into the conflict.
Personally, whenever I witness an altercation between two people, I step in to break it up, even when I am in plainclothes. I do this because I care and because I can exercise the concept of a “citizen’s arrest” — an action meant for ordinary citizens who witness an event they reasonably believe to be a crime. Many people may not realize that engaging in an altercation — whether verbal or physical — can constitute the crime of “alarm and scandal.”
Initially, a private individual can legally make an arrest without a warrant when he or she witnesses another person in the act of committing or is about to commit a crime in his or her presence.
However, please take note that only the minimum and reasonable force necessary to secure the suspect or prevent them from escaping may be used. Excessive force can lead to criminal liability.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus teaches us that true Christian charity obliges a Christian not only to assist his neighbors in their temporal and spiritual needs with material help and prayer, but also to aid with correction those brothers and sisters who have damaged the community by public sin.
If the erring one refuses a loving one-on-one correction by the offended party, then the Christian is to try to involve more people — first “one or two others,” and eventually “the Church.”
Finally, Jesus mentions the efficacy of community prayer in solving such problems, for Christ is present in the praying Christian community.
Jesus emphatically affirms that we are our brother’s keeper and we have the serious obligation to correct others. We must offer advice and encouragement to our friends, neighbors, and co-workers when it is needed, nd we do the correction, in private, personally and with love.
Jesus makes it clear how important we are to one another. One in Christ, our community can draw on God’s power to make His healing, life-giving love more effective among His people.
