220. Sixth Thursday of Ordinary Time

Meditations no. 95 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

Fraternal correction: proof of love in action.

Whom the Lord loves he reproves, says the Book of Proverbs. And in today’s Gospel, our Lord shows us what a great work of charity fraternal correction is.

After Simon Peter had confessed his faith in Christ’s divinity, he was told that he was to be the Rock on which our Lord would build his Church. Then Jesus began to teach them that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. Peter, who had formed a very different idea of Christ’s triumph, tried to persuade Jesus not to go through with that mission. And displaying the sort of charity that shows itself in specific deeds, Jesus replied firmly: Get behind me, Satan! For you are not on the side of God, but of men.

Our charity must also lead to deeds and actions that make the path to heaven easier for others. Fraternal correction, when it is made in the way the Work teaches us, is a great proof of this active love, which is so pleasing to God. The Apostle James teaches: My brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

The person who receives a fraternal correction will see it as a proof of supernatural and unselfish love. St Clement of Rome writes: Let us receive correction, and not be angered by it, dearly beloved. The admonition which we give to one another is good and most beneficial.

Our own mistakes are not always easy for us to see. Even if we get some glimpse of them, we may not be convinced of the need to do anything about them. That is why there is a duty on every Christian to practise fraternal correction, whenever there is a matter of some importance involved. This is something that applies to everybody, but we have a special obligation of charity to practise it in the Work. This is the first charity, our Father told us, because the first sign of charity is to help one another to be better. And this is hard, because it’s easier to say nothing; it’s easier, but it’s not supernatural. We will have to render to God an account of these omissions.

Fraternal correction guarantees our strength.

Better is an open rebuke than hidden love, says the Book of Proverbs. Everyone has the right to receive a proof of our love in the form of fraternal correction. But first must come those who are in the Work, since they are nearer our heart and have a greater right to our assistance.

If we want to live in peace and harmony with everyone, we have to do so among ourselves first of all. That is the order of true charity …

Living in harmony means loving one another, being understanding and forgiving towards one another. But there are things that we shouldn’t let pass, even though we forgive them: these are the things we should correct. Hence the need and the duty we have to bring to the Directors’ attention those things which could be harmful to someone’s soul, and to the Work in general.

He who does not love his brother … is not of God, St John writes. Our Father’s vigilance over his children led him to provide us with the means that would ensure that we would never have to fight alone, and that we would always have the help of the others. May no one ever feel lonely in the Work! Everybody has to be convinced that they are understood. If they have some weakness, we will make allowances for it, and offer them a helping hand. Let them be convinced that however weak they may be, they have the combined strength of us all. In establishing when fraternal correction should be made, and the way it should be given, our Father has strengthened the bond of charity that unites us, because he has made each of us responsible for the sanctity of the others.

A brother helped by a brother is like a strong city. Fraternal correction is of tremendous value for our supernatural family and for the personal holiness of each one of us. We feel responsible for ensuring that the Work, which is holy since it comes from God, should also be holy in its children. We are sufficiently conscious of our weaknesses to realize that we can’t rely on our own strength alone. Luckily, we have support all around us, with others in our family always ready to encourage us and support us, to pick us up if we should fall, and to heal our wounds.

We are reminded by our Father that each of us has many defects, which we’re well aware of and which we’re struggling against. But we also have many other defects that we’re not aware of. Unfortunately, that’s the way things are! Our attention is drawn to some of them through fraternal correction - only to some of them, so as not to pester or discourage us. The others point these things out to us because they love us, and because in the Work we are full of affection for one another and live as a true Christian family.

This is the love that makes us strong and invincible. And the best way of showing it is by making fraternal correction. If we practise fraternal correction as often as is necessary, and never let it fall into disuse, it will be very convincing evidence of our determination to be loyal.

Fraternal correction brings joy.

Blessed fraternal correction! How joyful and attractive it makes our path to God in the world: knowing that we are loved, that we are told things truthfully, to our face, to help us become saints; that others suffer if we are suffering!

Fraternal correction gives us a sense of security; it plays a decisive role in making the atmosphere of our Centres cheerful and attractive. Our fraternity is something wonderful, and stands in clear contrast to the selfishness and lack of charity that can so often destroy harmony among people. The calm and joy that characterize our family life are in part the result of fraternal correction, which nips any critical spirit in the bud, and gives us the assurance that if we do anything wrong we will be told about it in a straightforward and affectionate way. No one will speak badly about us; no one will even think badly about us. If anything that we do needs to be corrected, someone will tell us about it, face to face, in a noble, honourable way. And then they will forget all about it, since the only reason they wanted to give us that fraternal correction, made with supernatural outlook, as the Catechism of the Work says, was their affection towards us and their desire to see us improve. How we should love fraternal correction! The deep affection that unites us, and the boundless trust we have in one another, are due in large part to it.

When you practise fraternal correction, besides practising charity towards your brothers or sisters, you are also loving the Work, because you are sanctifying it.

Let us ask our Lady - Turris Civitatis, the Tower that guards the city, and Regina Apostolorum, Queen of Apostles - to watch over the treasure of our fraternity with loving vigilance. May she teach us always to be faithful to the practice of fraternal correction.