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Mt.18:15-20

23è dimanche de l’année A – 2020

4 septembre 2020
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Trésor ancien et nouveau
Mots-clés: engagement, Ez.33:7-9), frère, Mt.18:15-20, responsabilités, soeur

Des responsabilités, nous en avons tous et toutes, il semble que notre vie en soit remplie.
Les exigences de notre rôle comme conjoint, parent, enfant, ami/e, voisin/e, membre de différents groupes, etc., sont multiples et parfois nous les trouvons bien lourdes.

Et voilà que les lectures de ce dimanche nous ramènent précisément à cela : notre responsabilité comme chrétien/ne.
La 1ère lecture (Ez.33:7-9) nous rappelle que nous devons être un guetteur, autrement dit, nous devons nous préoccuper de nos frères et sœurs.

L’évangile, lui, (Mt.18:15-20) détaille comment nous devons procéder pour ‘gagner un frère’ (une sœur) – une procédure par étapes, si on veut.

Les consignes générales devront évidemment être adaptées aux situations concrètes et aux personnes concernées.
Mais la directive reste la même : nous ne pouvons pas rester indifférent/es, il faut s’engager positivement.

« À toi, je demanderai compte », dit Dieu.

C’est sérieux, c’est exigeant, on ne peut y échapper… si on veut marcher à la suite du Christ.

Note: Une autre réflexion est disponible en anglais sur un thème différent à: https://image-i-nations.com/23rd-sunday-of-year-a-2020/

 

Source: Image: Unsplash

23rd Sunday of Year A – 2020

4 septembre 2020
Nicole Gregoire
2 Comments
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: Christ's presence, faith, Mt.18:15-20, Mt.8:26, promise

People may speak to give some information or to state a fact.
They may tell a story or give some instruction.

But it happens that someone makes a promise – this is a different kind of statement.
It is binding on the person who speaks and promising to the one receiving the promise.

What if it is… God himself who promises – we know he cannot fail to carry out what he has promised.

In today’s gospel (Mt.18:15-20), Jesus speaks such words of promise:
“Where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
 
I wonder how many groups of people, gathered together because of Jesus are truly convinced of this?
If suddenly he appeared before their eyes, these people would be astonished.
Yet, even if invisible, Christ is no less present, no less REAL…

Perhaps he would chide them gently with the words he spoke before:
“You, of little faith…” (Mt.8:26)

Note: Another reflection on a different theme in French can be found at: https://image-i-nations.com/23e-dimanche-de-lannee-a-2020/

 

Source: Image: The Church if Scotland

 

23rd Sunday of Year A

7 septembre 2017
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: blessings, expérience, Father in heaven, gospel texts, inventory, Mt.18:15-20, needs, prayer, Prophets, Psalms, wishes

We know and we believe that the word of God in Scripture tells us about him and his will for our lives.
His message comes to us, ‘clothed’ if I may say, in all kinds of ways reaching us as light and guidance, strength and comfort.

The prophets and the Psalms, the gospels texts and the epistles – all of them are meant for our instruction, says Paul (Rom.15:4).
But, personally, I must confess that I am rather partial to texts which offer us promises, yes, promises from God himself.

The last verses of today’s gospel (23rd Sunday, Year A – Mt.18:15-20) give us exactly that: a two-fold promise from Jesus himself.
Words that are powerful and, yes, really promising!
This is what he says:

« 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.”

Some will say: “Wonderful!”
Others will think: “It did not work out for me!” meaning that they asked, and asked, with relatives and friends, and they simply did not get what they were asking for…
And many would endorse this statement and the experience it describes.

Perhaps most of us have made this experience – that of praying with our whole heart, convinced that God hears our prayers but, in the end, what we were hoping for did not materialize.
Did our praying bring about anything? We wonder.
We think to ourselves: If it did, it was surely not what we had asked for.

Perhaps this is because we have yet to identify our real needs… which can be quite different from our wishes and…yes, our whims…
God, who knows us better than we know ourselves, knows also what is best for us, even if we find it very difficult to admit to that.

Today may be a good occasion to make some kind of inventory – the inventory of all that we have received from God recently and see if some of those blessings were not – in disguise – what we were most in need of at the time…

Source: Image: justice-and-peace.org.uk