Meditation for Sunday: What Did St. Matthew Mean When He Said Treat Someone Like a Gentile or Tax Collector?

The Calling of St. Matthew by Caravaggio

It's easy to misunderstand scripture. When I was a child, I thought St. Paul's saying that prayer "heaped coals on the heads" of sinners meant you called down fire and brimstone on them like on the sinners of Sodom and Gomorrah. Only later did I learn that he was actually talking about calling down the fire of the Holy Spirit to convert their hearts.

Today's gospel from Matthew is another passage that's easy to misunderstand. We are all called to admonish each other and Jesus tells us the right way to do it. If your brother sins against you, go privately and talk to him. If he won't listen, take another brother and challenge him together. If he still won't listen, take him to the Church (the doctrine). At that point if he won't listen, Jesus says, "Treat him like a Gentile or tax collector."