Jesus In Our Midst

Jesus said to his disciples: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell the Church. If he refuses to listen even to the Church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector.

Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 

Again, amen, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”  (Matthew 18:15-20)

We all sin against one another in some way – serious or not so much but still a sin such as the sin of omission: not doing what we know we should or keeping quiet to avoid conflict when we should speak up to air grievances and seek resolution.  The best resolution is forgiveness to loose on earth rather than bind.  Meeting our Maker in heaven with bound sins – not having had forgiven those who have trespassed against us – might end us in Purgatory rather than our true destination.   The Lord’s Prayer has great meaning; its message is quite clear. 

Also clear is the presence of Jesus in our lives – in our midst – especially when two or more are gathered.  This make it even more important for us to respect each other and to treat each other with kindness.  Jesus is watching, and that reminds me of a joke.

A burglar broke into a house one night. He shined his flashlight around, looking for valuables when a voice in the dark said, 'Jesus knows you're here.'

He nearly jumped out of his skin, clicked his flashlight off, and froze. When he heard nothing more, he shook his head and continued.

Just as he pulled the stereo out so he could disconnect the wires, clear as a bell he heard 'Jesus is watching you.'

Startled, he shined his light around frantically, looking for the source of the voice. Finally, in the corner of the room, his flashlight beam came to rest on a parrot.

'Did you say that?' he hissed at the parrot.

'Yes', the parrot confessed, then squawked, 'I'm just trying to warn you that he's watching you.'

The burglar relaxed. 'Warn me, huh? Who in the world are you?'

'Moses,' replied the bird.

'Moses?' the burglar laughed. 'What kind of people would name a bird Moses?'

'The kind of people who would name a Rottweiler Jesus.'

Deacon David Pierce