The Love That Calls Us Away from Sin

Wednesday, August 12, 2026 – 19^th Week in Ordinary Time –Year A, Cycle 2
Ezekiel 9:1-7; 10:18-22, Psalm 113:1-6, Matthew 18:15-20
 
The primary topic of today’s readings is one of those things nobody likes to talk about.  There’s no way to sugarcoat it or spin it to make it look or sound appealing because it is the one thing we know 100% for sure that God does not want us to do.   Even worse, it’s the only thing that can damage or completely break our relationship with God and keep us from eternal life with him in heaven, and that topic, if you haven’t already guessed, is Sin.  
 
In our gospel reading, Jesus gives us a couple of different insights on how to deal with the sin of others, especially those we love and care about the most, as well as how we should go about reconciling ourselves with God when we sin.  Jesus starts off by saying, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.”  While approaching someone about a sinful thing they have done or are still doing is never a comfortable situation and the reaction we get will often not be very positive, it is, in fact, an important way we show others that we love them.  They may get upset and say, “You can’t judge me,” and in one sense they would be right.  We should never judge a person’s relationship with God.  That’s for God to do, not us, and it would be sinful for us to do so.  However, as Christians we can’t bury our heads in the sand and ignore the sinful actions going on around us, especially of those we love the most.  To ignore, or even worse, to approve of their sin doesn’t show love, care, or tolerance for that person, but rather an attitude of indifference that could lead us to commit sins of omission ourselves.  While it’s important that we at least try to lead someone out of the sinful situation they are involved in, we should never do this in a hateful, degrading, or humiliating way, but with a spirit of love, caring, and kindness.
 
A while back, I was talking to a person I’m really close to who was involved in something very sinful.  I was encouraging them to step away from the sinful activity they were involved in.  During our conversation, I realized that they didn’t think they were doing anything wrong.   At least that’s what they said, but deep down I knew they didn’t really believe this. However, to justify their actions, they had convinced themselves that this thing, that was harmful to them and was separating them from both God and their family, was actually a good thing.   This person is a Christian, so I asked, “Have you prayed about this, asking God if this is His plan for your life?”   They replied, “Yes, I’ve prayed about it.”  
 
I said, “So what was God’s reply?”  They said, God’s good with it.”  At this point, while I did my best to be kind, I had to be brutally honest, so I said in the most loving way I could, “Ok, I don’t want to upset you, but I’m going to tell you something that you should never forget.  Anytime we’re involved in something sinful, meaning something that we clearly know is against God’s will and possibly even evil, and we ask God if he approves of it, and the response we think we receive from God is, I’m good with it.  It’s not God responding; it’s the enemy.”
 
While this wasn’t what they wanted to hear and tensions were raised for a moment, I continued, explaining that God is pure love; it’s not in his nature to encourage anything that could put our eternal salvation at risk.   God will never approve of or support us in anything that would harm us, physically, mentally, or especially spiritually.  We are his children; God loves us and wants us to be in heaven with him one day, and sin is the only thing that could prevent that. 
 
I love you, and I will never lie to you by telling you that something that is evil or bad for you is good, even if it creates a conflict between us or if it’s just hard for you to hear.  I love you, and it is not loving someone to approve of their sin or encourage them to continue in it.
 
Later in the gospel, we see a very important thing take place concerning how we should go about making things right with God after we have sinned.   Jesus said to his Apostles, “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.”   This takes place in Matthew chapter 18.  Just a couple of chapters earlier in Matthew 16, Jesus had already given the same authority to bind and loose sins to St Peter, using the exact same words.
 
The full revelation of what Jesus is doing here by giving the Apostles the authority to bind and loose sins comes to completion when he appears to them in the upper room after his Resurrection.  As recorded in the Gospel of John, Jesus instituted the Sacrament of Confession when he breathed on the Apostles and said to them, “Receive the holy Spirit.  Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”  Paragraph 1461 of the Catechism explains it this way.   “Since Christ entrusted to his apostles the ministry of reconciliation, bishops who are their successors, and priests, the bishops’ collaborators, continue to exercise this ministry.   Indeed, bishops and priests, by virtue of the sacrament of Holy Orders, have the power to forgive all sins “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
 
The Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation is a gift from God that we should all take advantage of regularly.  The Church only asks that we go at least once a year, but who wants to do the bare minimum when it comes to our relationship with God?  From my experience, regular Confession, meaning at least once a month, is a game changer for your spiritual life, and that’s what Jesus meant it to be.  The sanctifying grace we receive in this sacrament binds us closer to Jesus and truly does help us to live our Act of contrition to sin no more and avoid the near occasion of sin.
 
Amen.