Gospel Reading: Mt. 18:15-20

_{^{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.”}}

Listening is one of the essential elements in a relationship and the process of reconciliation. Without this element, it will be difficult for us to amend our broken relationships.

That is why, in our Gospel reading today (see Mt. 18:15-20), the act of listening is mentioned several times which implies a sort of importance. This means, if one is being corrected because of certain wrongdoing, one must hearken to the fraternal words of correction that are being conveyed before reacting against it.

But, if the person refuses to listen after exhausting the varied modes of correction, our Lord, Jesus Christ, is reminding us that one must not give up on the person involved. Rather, pray unceasingly for the good of him or her and always hold on to the assurance of our Lord when He 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.”