By Ishongkun Kurbah csc –
Readings: Deut 34:1-12; Mt 18:15-20
Friends play a very significant role in our lives. We can be influenced and can influence our friends positively or negatively. We may share things with friends that we may not even share with our parents.
Through this gospel passage, Jesus invites us to be a good, true, and genuine friend to each other. We can be people who become friends not only during a picnic or for enjoyment or as partners in doing something wrong, but also as real friends to point it out when we see them walking the wrong path or making wrong choices.
I have seen people becoming friends only for party and pleasure, but not for building and helping towards becoming a better person. My friends share their problems and struggles with me, and I do the same. I know their weaknesses and they know my weaknesses too. Who can confront a person when he or she does wrong if not for a good friend?
We may be frightened that if we correct and confront our friends because of a wrongdoing they did, we might lose them. We may become partners in crime for fear of getting rejected by our circle of friends. But we are called to be a genuine friend who cares for our friends and enable them to walk on the right path.
If all of us dare to challenge and confront our friends and help them when they struggle against the alluring world, our community and society would be a better place. Let us recollect how Jesus confronted the Pharisees because of their hypocrisy and his own disciples so that they walk on the pathway of truth. It is hard to speak the truth and at the same time to accept the truth. Let us be genuine and truthful to our friends and accept when our friends tell the truth about us so that we build up a better community.