RWS 772 September 10, 2017, 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Gospel: Matthew 18:
15-20
“For where two or
three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
Presence of Jesus
By Bishop Precioso D. Cantillas, SDB, DD
The Catholic faith teaches about the
many forms of Jesus’ presence on earth among His believers. Jesus who is the
Son of God, who became man, died and was buried, rose to new life, then
ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father. Among the ways,
according to Jesus’ words, that He is present among us, human beings is when
and “where two or three are gathered in” His name. It is therefore consoling
and saving for us to make all the effort to make our gatherings in such a way
that Jesus would be in our midst.
Our daily work, for many would bring people
together. While the job, and tasks at hand are the immediate reason for our
being gathered in a work place or in a situation to togetherness, an additional
reason, that which Jesus suggests, could make our working together an occasion
for Jesus to be in our midst. We have to gather and work “in His name”, which
could mean that as we do our work, we have a life faith in Jesus. We see the
events in our life, including our performance of our work as our personal and
intimate relationship with Jesus.
Working in Christ’s name
could mean that the worker considers his work as a participation in the mission
of Christ, which is to give life to the world and all humanity. When the worker
is so filled with Jesus in his mind, heart, and actions then Jesus is alive in
him, and the gathering of such workers is the presence of Jesus, truly alive in
the work place. Workers with a positive attitude on everything make Jesus alive
in the world.
Gathered in His
name
By Teresa R. Tunay, OCDS
It is a beautiful promise Jesus
makes in this statement: “For where two or three are gathered together
in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
I used to work in a
place run by a pious family who made sure the employees started the week right
by gathering everybody in prayer first thing on Monday morning, much like
government employees holding a flag ceremony.
I’d say that office was probably
better than a typical government office—at least we didn’t eat and gossip right
at our work stations during office hours; we were nice to one another and the
atmosphere was generally pleasant. But
it wasn’t Paradise. Even though Management thought we were all “gathered
together in His name”, there would be squabbling, envy, intrigues (affecting
those in luscious positions), misuse of funds by finance officers, etc.
Jesus’ promise doesn’t automatically assure us of His presence in our
midst. The Lord won’t magically pop up
before us simply because we end all our prayers with “In the Most Holy Name of
Jesus, amen!” Coming together in His
name also means striving to know who is the Person behind the name—Jesus. Away from others, in our solitude, we ponder:
what did this Jesus do for us, how did He live His life on earth, why does He
want us to welcome Him in our midst, who is He to me, and what does He want of
me?
Welcoming Jesus thus in the depths of our being leads us to an intimate
“connection” with the Lord, a friendship that lights our way in following our
Master, so that it is with absolute trust in His Way that we come with others
to gather in His name.
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