Trouble and strife are a fact of life. No human community is without it. We find it in the workplace, the family and yes, believe it or not, in every parish or church community on the face of the earth. For where people abound, sin also abounds. But where sin abounds, so too does grace. What matters isn’t so much the trouble and strife but how we handle it and ultimately resolve it.
Jesus touches on the nitty-gritty issue in our Gospel today. He counsels the direct approach. If we have a problem with someone, we should go directly to them to sort it out. Of course, this requires tact, wisdom and sensitivity. We can’t often adopt a ‘Charlie in the clod’ approach. Charlie has annoyed us and we have flown off the handle; he is irritating and eccentric, but we recognise that we must apologise – or, in Christian speak, repent and ask forgiveness. We do so, however, with a ‘but Charlie is a clod’ attitude deep in our hearts. In other words, because ‘Charlie is a clod’ it gets us off the hook. When in fact, Charlie isn’t the problem, we are!
The truth is, we rarely go directly to people and we rarely have the courage and strength to work things out. We prefer to suffer in silence and let our resentment grow. The role of the parish priest is to foster and encourage forgiveness and reconciliation in the parish. Sadly, this isn’t always the case, and parish life can be difficult if the parish priest or deacon is the one causing the division or faction. The truth is, clergy or lay, we are all sinners. The Church is a fraternity in need of God’s forgiveness and the forgiveness of others. A Parish is rather like a family – we can’t choose our family members, and neither can we choose the members of our faith family.
Lord Jesus, you have called us to be members of the body of Christ. Forgive us for the way we hurt, defame and break down the body of Christ. Heal us and we will be healed; forgive us and we will be forgiven. And teach us to be merciful and kind.
