A Penitential Jesus

[God_Seeker_1]

This seems to be a place to get some feedback from some Catholics who are serious about discipleship. Something which has gotten my attention for some time now is that it is, seemingly, almost impossible to begin practicing Church discipline in the local Catholic parish. That does not mean it is impossible, it just means that in my experience, I have yet to run into a situation where any Catholic I’ve known actually exemplifies the teaching of Jesus regarding the purity of the local congregation. I was wondering what some you all think about what Jesus said in Matthew 18 regarding when a fellow brother is in sin. Jesus said that if your brother sins, go tell him his fault one on one. Now, I’ve spoken with Catholics on this issue, and it seems like the instincts are not to “go tell him his fault”, but rather “leave him alone because your a sinner too”. And so it is presumed that what Jesus commanded here is a practical impossibility. If it is true that we are all sinners, and if it is true that none of us are perfect, then what business does Jesus have in telling the disciples to “go tell your brother his fault”? ? ? It seems as if Jesus assumes that the brothers among the Church are supposed to be a group of repentant people, a sanctified lot, and a people marked by such holiness. And it also seems as if Jesus expected his disciples to actually “confront” our fellow brothers when they are in sin. Moreover, if the brother fails to repent of his/her sin, then 2 or more fellow brothers are to confront that “sinning brother” and seek to admonition them to repentance. At this point, it seems as if this ever happened in a catholic parish, you would have protests from all over crying out “Don’t judge! You think you are better than me! Who are you! This is a hospital for sinners, not a museum of saints!, etc,etc”. Be that as it may, surprisingly, Jesus does not find such an act as scandalous as some of us do. Finally, if the sinning brother does not repent at the admonition of 2 or 3, the Church is to confront the sinning brother. Could you imagine if at a local Catholic parish, there was a known issue where the Church was pressing an impenitent member of the church to repent? It would be a historical marker. Lastly, if the sinner does not repent, he is no longer to be considered a brother, but a heathen and tax collector by the whole Church, and is excommunicated.

Now here is the question: How does Jesus find the ability to speak like this? For some of us today, this is a huge scandal of judgementalism, legalism, phariseeism, etc,etc…But Jesus is really serious. This kind of bothers me as I am a faithful Catholic, but I do not see obedience to Jesus in this regard. Of course we know we should always pray. But is there anything else you could say to help me with struggling through this? I already to pray and find patience. What other practical steps can I take to being content in the Catholic Church, when there are known protestant churches who do practice the commands of Christ in this regard?

 

[po18guy]

Before you speak with others, pray for them. A lot.

 

[Origen52]

I think we first need to be certain we are not engaging in an hypocritical act.

Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam in thy own eye, and then shalt thou see to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye. Matthew 7:5

Before we admonish anyone else we need to engage in a regular examination of our own conscience . This is done through regular confession, which is not only to confess sins but also a time to ask for advice, and with the guidance of a good spiritual director. We should have an established, respectful relationship with the person we feel called to admonish. I doubt trying to correct a casual acquaintance would lead to anything spiritually positive for either party. You need to examine why you feel called to admonish this person. The best way to do this is to discuss the matter with your priest and spiritual director. You need to be certain that the admonishment is done in a spirit of love and support and does not spring from a sanctimonious impulse.

Finally from the Baltimore Catechism

Question: “When are we bound to admonish the sinner?”
Answer: “We are bound to admonish the sinner when the following conditions are fulfilled: when his fault is a mortal sin; when we have authority or influence over him; and when there is reason to believe that our warning will not make him worse instead of better.”