“We live in a time when it has become very easy to correct people, and very difficult to correct them with love.

Someone makes a mistake, and immediately we post about it. Someone says something we disagree with, and immediately we attack. Someone has a different political opinion, and suddenly that person becomes an enemy.

Social media has given everyone a microphone, but unfortunately, it has not always given us the wisdom to know when and how to use it.

Today, Jesus teaches us something very important about fraternal correction. He says, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.”

Notice what Jesus says: Go to your brother. He does not say: Go to Facebook. He does not say: Tell everybody first. He does not say: Destroy his reputation. He says: Go to him.

Correct the person because you love the person.

The purpose of Christian correction is never humiliation. It is restoration.

Sometimes we think, “I have to tell him because he is wrong.” But before correcting someone, perhaps we should ask ourselves: Why do I want to correct this person?

Is it because I love him? Or because I want to prove that I am right?

There is a great difference.

You can speak the truth and still be uncharitable. You can win an argument and lose a brother. You can prove that you are correct and still fail to be Christian.

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

That is the goal—not to win the argument, but to win back the brother.

Speak to people, not about people.

Jesus says, “Tell him his fault between you and him alone.”

This is very important today.

We have developed a culture of talking about people rather than talking to people. Sometimes the person concerned is the last one to know that we have a problem with him!

Before posting, before forwarding screenshots, before telling ten other people, Jesus tells us: Go directly to your brother or sister.

And do it privately. Why privately? Because love protects the dignity of the person, even when that person is wrong.

Of course, there are serious situations—especially abuse, violence, criminal acts, or matters involving public safety—that must be reported to the proper authorities. Christian charity never means hiding wrongdoing or protecting an offender.

But in our ordinary disagreements and misunderstandings, we should recover the beautiful Christian practice of sitting down, speaking honestly, listening humbly, and trying to understand one another.

Never allow disagreement to destroy communion.

Our society today is deeply polarized. Politics divides us. Social issues divide us. Even within the Church, sometimes our preferences divide us.

We begin putting labels on one another. And once we put a label on someone, we sometimes stop seeing the person.

But before that person is a political opponent, he is your brother. Before she belongs to another group, she is your sister. Before we are left or right, we are children of the same Father.

Jesus ends today’s Gospel by saying: “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

Perhaps this is what our divided world needs most: to put Jesus back in the middle. Not my pride in the middle. Not my politics in the middle. Not my opinion in the middle. Jesus in the middle.

My dear brothers and sisters, when you need to correct someone, remember three things:

Correct with love.

Speak to the person, not about the person.

And protect communion even when you disagree.

A Father’s Wish

There is an old story about a father whose two sons had stopped speaking to each other because of a bitter disagreement. One day, the father became seriously ill. He called both sons to his bedside.

They stood on opposite sides of the bed, still refusing to look at each other.

The father reached out, took the hand of one son, then took the hand of the other. With the little strength he had left, he brought their hands together over his chest. He did not give a long speech. He simply held their hands together.

Final Words

Sometimes I imagine God our Father doing the same thing with us. We stand on opposite sides—angry, divided, convinced that we are right. And the Father takes our hands and brings them together over the heart of Jesus. Because in the end, Christianity is not about proving who is right. It is about learning how to remain brothers and sisters in Christ—even when we disagree.”