Love and the Duty of Fraternal Correction
Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Cathedral Basilica of Saint Bavo
Haarlem, Netherlands
September 6, 2026
Ez 33, 7-9
Ps 95, 1-2. 6-7. 8-9
Rom 13, 8-10
Mt 18, 15-20
Homily
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
It brings me profound joy to offer the Holy Mass in the most beautiful Cathedral Basilica of Saint Bavo. I thank His Excellency, The Most Reverend Johannes Willibrordus Maria Hendriks, Bishop of Haarlem-Amsterdam, for his warm welcome to the Diocese, and I commend all, especially Father Pieter Zimmermann, who have worked so tirelessly and well over many months to prepare for today’s celebration. I am offering the Holy Mass for the faithful of the Diocese of Haarlem-Amsterdam.
The teaching of our Lord Jesus in today’s Gospel is not easy for us to follow at any time, especially in the present time.[1] It takes courage to confront a brother who sins. It takes even more courage in our culture which worships the freedom of the individual. In our society, there is a strong prejudice against correcting anyone regarding what is right and wrong. So often, today, when we correct someone doing something which is seriously wrong, the response is: “You have your truth, and I have my truth.” What is more, some of the gravest of moral evils, for instance, procured abortion and euthanasia, have even been made legal by the state. In such a situation, to confront the taking of innocent and defenseless human life or the killing of those who have the first title to our care – those who have grown weak under the burden of serious illness, special needs, or advanced years – is seen, in an absurd way, to be an attempt to restrict or take away a legal right. But, when we understand the truth about human freedom, then we cannot remain silent when a brother betrays the gift of freedom by doing something intrinsically evil, even if it is legal or acceptable in society.
The reading from the Prophet Ezekiel provides the introduction to Christ’s teaching on fraternal correction. Our Lord reminds Ezekiel that he has been appointed “watchman for the house of Israel”[2] to caution the people when they fail to do God’s will. Our Lord makes it clear that the watchman or sentinel performs an act of the greatest charity when he dissuades a man who is committing a wicked deed. So fundamental is the responsibility in charity to admonish the brother who sins, that Our Lord holds the prophet responsible for the evil deeds of those whom he fails to confront regarding those deeds.[3]
A particular challenge to fraternal correction is the situation in which a brother or sister espouses a moral position contrary to the teaching of Christ and the Church. The challenge is even greater when the confused or erroneous position is expressed before others, leading them into confusion and error. The moral relativism of our society tends to accept as right whatever a person thinks about any given moral question. As a result, we often find ourselves in social conversations or in discussions with others, in which statements are made, which are contrary to the moral law and, therefore, to Church teaching. If we remain silent, we give the impression that we agree with what is wrong, and we fail to call our neighbor to examine what he or she is stating in the light of the moral law and the Church’s teaching.
There is also the situation when we suffer an injustice at the hands of another. In such a situation, the only charitable response is to follow the Lord Jesus’ clear instruction in handling situations of injustice in our lives. Too often, we attempt to correct a wrong done to us by aggression against the brother or sister who has wronged us. Sometimes, it may be by outward physical aggression, but more often it is by a silent, spiritual aggression, an attitude of lingering resentment and of desire to see another suffer because of what he or she has done.
It should be no surprise that this way of dealing with injustices accomplishes nothing good but only increases the harm done: there is no correction of the wrongdoer, there is no forgiveness, there is no reconciliation with the other or peace within oneself. Saint Paul admonishes us thus in the Letter to the Romans: “Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law… Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”[4]
Contrary to what the world teaches, when we suffer injustice, our response as a follower of Christ must be: How can I love my brother who has done me an injustice? Such is the Christlike love which we owe to all our neighbors, even to those who do wrong to us. To love one’s neighbor as oneself is fundamentally to desire his salvation and never to do him wrong in return. As Our Lord instructs us, our way of fraternal correction is intended to gain our brother again for Christ.[5] We must be attentive lest our act of fraternal correction be an expression of anger or of the desire to punish.
When the people on the exodus from Egypt to the Promised Land became contentious about the lack of water, Moses became angry with them. When Our Lord provided a response to their need with the water which would flow from the rock which Our Lord instructed Moses to strike with his rod, Moses manifested anger with the people, when he should have expressed the holiness of God.[6] Today’s Responsorial Psalm expresses the divine love which we should reflect in every situation of injustice: “Harden not your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, when your fathers tested me, and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.”[7] Our response to injustice must be an invitation to the perpetrator to hear God’s voice, to convert his heart to the Lord Who alone is “the rock of our salvation.”[8]
Christ teaches fraternal correction as a fundamental responsibility of charity, from which we may not excuse ourselves because it is difficult to fulfill. He describes for us the way to carry out fraternal correction as an act of charity. His instruction makes clear the charity which must underline every act of confronting another. We are to observe the greatest respect for the other, first approaching the brother or sister alone. When he or she refuses to listen, then we are to seek the help of others, and, that failing, we are to turn the matter over to the pastors of the Church. Once we have followed Christ’s instruction, we can be at peace, praying for the one we have corrected and entrusting him or her into the arms of Our Lord. Christ assures us that divine grace accompanies us in carrying out fraternal correction: “Truly, 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.”[9] Before the challenge of fraternal correction in a society which is thoroughly permissive, we must trust in the help of God’s grace, so that we may do what is charitable, what is for the eternal good of the other.
Often faithful members of the Church remark to me about how difficult it is to be a Catholic today, especially when they confront confusion and error about what the Church teaches and are frequently obliged to give an account of the faith to others. In these difficult situations, it is important to remember Christ’s instruction in today’s Gospel. Our clarification of confusion or correction of error is not some prideful act but, rather, a fundamental act of charity, seeking the good of the other and the good of all. Through the Sacrament of Confirmation, Our Lord increases and strengthens the sevenfold gift of the Holy Spirit, which we first received in Baptism, so that we, in turn, may give clear and strong witness to Christ in the world. Holy Communion is the Heavenly Bread of our earthly pilgrimage, which nourishes the life of the Holy Spirit within us, so that we may live the Catholic faith with integrity and be ready to give an account of the faith to others, even in the most difficult of times.
Let us now unite ourselves to Christ in His Eucharistic Sacrifice. Let us lift up our hearts, one with the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and place them securely within His Most Sacred Heart, the unquenchable source of divine grace in our lives. Let us draw from the Heart of Jesus the courage to be His faithful witnesses in the world. May the fire of divine charity in the Sacred Heart of Jesus inflame our hearts, so that we, by the practice of fraternal correction, may make clear what is confused and correct what is wrong, thus giving glory to God and serving the salvation of souls.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Raymond Leo Cardinal BURKE
[1] Mt 18, 15-17.
[2] Ez 33, 7.
[3] Cf. Ez 33, 8.
[4] Rom 13, 8.10.
[5] Cf. Mt 18, 15.
[6] Cf. Nm 20, 1-13.
[7] Ps 95, 8-9.
[8] Ps 95, 1.
[9] Mt 18, 18.