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The pedagogy of recovery, not the accusation or condemnation, is what Jesus suggests when a brother makes a mistake. That is why the Pope this morning at the Angelus exhorts us to pray for the brothers and not to talk about defects or lapses. “The great conversationalist is the devil” – he says – “who seeks to disunite the Church”
Debora Donnini – Vatican City
Make fraternal correction “a healthy habit” so that “in our communities” there are relationships based on forgiveness and on the “invincible force of God’s mercy.” Looking this morning at a St. Peter’s Square warmed by a beautiful September sun, Pope Francis points this way in the Angelus. The Pope comments on today’s Gospel in which, in some way, Jesus suggests “a pedagogy of recovery” articulated in three steps, because “He always tries to recover, to save ”.
The talk closes the unity of the Church
When a brother who makes a mistake, does not listen to those who admonish him alone, or with two or three witnesses, and in the end not even to the community, which is “the Church”, Jesus says: “Be for you as a pagan and collector of taxes”. An expression “apparently so contemptuous”, says the Pope, but that “in reality invites us to place our brother in the hands of God” because “only the Father can manifest a greater love than that of all the brothers together.” “This teaching of Jesus helps us a lot”, because when we “see a mistake” in our brothers, “normally the first thing we do is go and tell others,” says the Pope, underlining the consequences of this behavior:
Gossip closes the heart of the community, closes the unity of the Church. The great talker is the devil, who is always saying the bad things about others, because he is the liar who tries to disunite the Church, alienate the brothers and not form a community. Please brothers and sisters, we do our best not to chat. Chatting is a plague worse than Covid! Let’s make an effort: no talks.
Try to get the brother back and pray
The attitude to which one is invited is instead “the love of Jesus, who welcomed the tax collectors and pagans, scandalizing the right-thinking people of the time”:
Therefore, it is not a condemnation without appeal, but the recognition that sometimes our human attempts can fail, and that only being before God can put the brother before his own conscience and responsibility for his actions. If things don’t go well, silence and pray for the brother and sister who are wrong, but never gossip.
In his reflection, the Pope also dwells on the previous attitudes of fraternal correction. Faced with a brother who makes a mistake, the first suggestion is precisely to go to him with discretion, not to judge him but to help him, perhaps overcoming the fear that he will react badly. Perhaps at first we worry but later “we are grateful,” says Francisco, because it is “a gesture of brotherhood.”
Building fraternal relationships
If this intervention fails, despite good intentions, the invitation is not to give up but to resort to the support of another brother or sister, two or three witnesses, as the Mosaic law effectively provided to protect the person from ” false accusers. “. Therefore, it is not about accusing or condemning, but about helping because “this is the attitude of recovery that Jesus wants from us.” But even the love of two or three brothers can be insufficient and that is why Jesus exhorts us to tell it to the whole community. The strong invitation of the Pope is, therefore, to build “ever new fraternal relationships” within the community.
Angelus
Greetings to athletes with multiple sclerosis
After the Marian prayer, in particular, the Pope greets “the sportswomen with multiple sclerosis who have traveled the Via Francigena from Siena to Rome, the children of Santo Stefano Lodigiano, who have come by bicycle, for a solidarity initiative”, stressing that “both groups were brave” and urging them to move forward “with joy and confidence.”
