Wednesday – 19th Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel – Matthew18:15-20

Houston, We Have a Problem

Tekakwitha Conference 2022

A woman repeated a bit of gossip about a neighbor. Within a few days the whole community knew the story. The person it concerned was deeply hurt and offended. Later, the woman responsible for spreading the rumor learned that it was completely untrue. She was very sorry and went to a wise old sage to find out what she could do to repair the damage. “Go to the marketplace.” he said, “and purchase a chicken, and have it killed. Then on your way home, pluck its feathers and drop them one by one along the road.” Although surprised by this advice, the woman did what she was told.

The next day the wise man said, “Now, go and collect all those feathers you dropped yesterday and bring them back to me.” The woman followed the same road, but to her dismay the wind had blown all the feathers away. After searching for hours, she returned with only three in her hand. “You see,” said the old sage, “it’s easy to drop them, but it’s impossible to get them back. So it is with gossip. It doesn’t take much to spread a rumor, but once you do, you can never completely undo the wrong.”

Face it! We have all had those moments when someone hurt us deeply.  Maybe it was deliberate, maybe unintentional; either way we are in pain and we are angry!  What do we do with all that negative emotion?  Many of us, myself included, tend to keep it inside.  We fume and grumble and complain; we let it fester and grow until we reach the point where we take it out on everyone around us.  What was once a problem between 2 people turns into something that affects the whole community. 

Jesus, in today’s Gospel, recognizes our ‘oh so’ human condition and provides a way out, a way to resolve the issue and heal the wounds.  But it is not easy.  It requires honesty, truth and a willingness to forgive, to be forgiven and to heal. 

Drastic?  Yes!  Necessary? Yes!  There is a basic message Jesus is trying to teach – sin affects everyone.  Anger and resentment and jealousy and hate, if ignored, will only deepen and end up affecting the whole community, the whole family.  As much as we are in pain and hurting, it will only get worse if we don’t seek to confront it and attempt to heal.  That takes courage, honesty, a willingness to forgive and be forgiven, and love, especially love! 

Jesus gave the Apostles the keys to the Kingdom, the power to bind and to loose.  But He has given to all of us the power to forgive and the command to love each othe

Great Spirit, help me today to be humble, to realize that we are all fragile creatures.  Let me not attack others but seek to heal and mend old wounds and rebuild relationships.

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