HE IS IN OUR MIDST | Matthew 18:15–20

Today’s Gospel gives us a profound vision of what it means to live together as Christians. Jesus speaks about sin, fraternal correction, forgiveness, reconciliation, prayer, and unity. At first, this passage may seem to offer simply a procedure for dealing with conflict. But Jesus is teaching us something much deeper: what it means to be a community truly gathered in His name.

He begins with very practical words:

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.”

Notice the first step Jesus gives us: go to the person.

This is important because conflict often grows not only from the original offense, but from everything that happens afterward. Instead of going to the person, we may go to a friend, a family member, another parishioner—or sometimes even to social media. We begin to interpret motives, repeat the story, seek people who agree with us, and gradually a private wound becomes a public division.

But Jesus gives us another way:

“Go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.”

St. John Chrysostom noticed the gentleness in Christ’s words. Jesus does not say, “Accuse him.” or “Attack him.” He says, “Tell him his fault.”

The purpose is not humiliation. The purpose is healing.

That is why Jesus says:

“If he listens to you, you have won over your brother.”

Notice what Jesus does not say, “You have won the argument.” He says, “You have won your brother.”

That is the goal of Christian correction. We correct not to defeat another person but to restore communion.

There are moments when we must speak a difficult truth. 

v A parent may need to correct a child. 

v A husband or wife may need to address something that is damaging their marriage. 

v A friend may need to warn a friend about a destructive choice. 

v A fellow Christian may need a word of encouragement, correction, or challenge.

But before correcting another person, we must first examine our own hearts.

Why am I saying this?

Am I speaking because I am angry? Do I want this person to feel guilty? Do I want to prove that I am right?

Or do I truly desire the good of this person?

St. Augustine teaches us that correction must come from charity. We correct not because we despise someone, but because love refuses to remain indifferent when another person is moving toward spiritual harm.

Christian correction should never communicate, “You are worthless.” Rather, it should say, “You are loved, and because you are loved, I want what is truly good for you.”

The same principle applies to friendship. A true friend is not simply someone who tells us what we want to hear. Sometimes friendship requires the courage to speak a difficult truth. But that truth must be spoken with humility, respect, and genuine concern.

And the same is true in parish life.

Through Baptism, we are not simply individuals who happen to worship in the same building. We have become members of the Body of Christ. We are brothers and sisters in the Lord.

Therefore, when misunderstandings arise, our first response should not be gossip, suspicion, resentment, or the formation of opposing groups. The Christian response begins with the difficult but necessary step that Jesus gives us:

Go to the person.

At the same time, charity requires prudence. We do not need to correct every small fault. There are times when it is wiser, humbler, and more charitable simply to overlook something.

But there are also times when silence is not love.

If someone we genuinely love is moving toward serious moral or spiritual harm, and we refuse to say anything simply because we are afraid of discomfort, perhaps we are not protecting the other person. Perhaps we are protecting ourselves.

The goal of fraternal correction is always reconciliation rather than victory.

At the same time, Jesus reminds us that sin is not merely private. Serious sin wounds our relationship with God and damages the communion of the Church, because we are members of one Body in Christ. 

St. Paul describes the Church precisely in these terms:

“As a body is one though it has many parts, ….. If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if one part is honored, all the parts share its joy.” (1 Cor 12: 12-26)

When one member of the Body is wounded, the whole Body is affected. Therefore, reconciliation is not simply about making two individuals feel better. It is about restoring communion within the Body of Christ.

Then the Gospel turns to prayer.

Jesus says:

“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.”

And then comes one of the most beautiful promises in all of Scripture:

“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

The words “in my name” are essential.

Jesus is not simply saying that whenever two or three people happen to gather together, whatever they ask will automatically be granted. The context is important. He is speaking about disciples gathered in His name—disciples seeking truth, reconciliation, holiness, and the will of God. 

To pray in the name of Jesus means more than simply adding the words, “Through Christ our Lord,” at the end of a prayer.

It means praying with the heart of Christ. It means not for the triumph of our own will, but for the fulfillment of the Father’s will – thy will be done.

The early Christian tradition often used the image of harmony to describe the unity of the Church.

Different voices can form one beautiful song when they are united. But if every voice insists on its own melody, its own rhythm, and its own importance, there is no harmony.

So it is in the Church.

We come from different families, different backgrounds, different burdens, and different struggles. Yet we are called to gather in the name of Christ.

And when the Church gathers for worship, Christ is truly present among His people: in His Word, in the community gathered in prayer, in the priest who presides, and most especially and substantially in the Holy Eucharist.

That is why unity and reconciliation matter. 

Division weakens our witness to the world. But reconciliation makes visible the presence of Christ among us.

We can sit in the same pew and still carry resentment.

We can pray for peace while refusing to forgive.

We can pray for unity in the parish while constantly criticizing one another.

The question is not simply whether we are physically together.

The deeper question is:

Are our hearts truly united in Christ?

And perhaps this Gospel invites us to look not only at divisions around us, but also at the divisions within us.

Sometimes we know what is right, but struggle to choose it. We sincerely desire holiness, yet remain attached to certain sins, preferences, comforts, or selfish desires.

Christian holiness is the work of allowing God’s grace to bring our whole life into harmony—our thoughts, our words, our choices, and our actions.

The same Lord who desires unity within His Church also desires to bring unity into the human heart.

That is why unity and reconciliation matters. 

And where Christ is truly welcomed into our midst, division can become reconciliation, wounds can begin to heal, and a community of imperfect people can become ever more fully the Body of Christ.

And when we seek reconciliation may we remember the promise of the Lord:

“Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

Christ is not merely someone we remember when we gather.

He is not merely somewhere among us.

He is in our midst.

✍ Fr James Kuttentharappel MCBS
Memphis, USA