Twenty-Seventh Wednesday in Ordinary Time

And when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he clearly was wrong. For, until some people came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to draw back and separated himself, because he was afraid of the circumcised. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were not on the right road in line with the truth of the Gospel, I said to Cephas in front of all, "If you, though a Jew, are living like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?"

When we see someone else doing something wrong, we have an obligation to correct them. This isn't always easy. Sometimes they are loved ones and we don't want to start a fight and cause strife in our homes and families. Sometimes they are strangers and we fear their reaction to our rebuke. However, wrong is wrong and right is right and we should not be afraid to speak the truth and correct others as long as we do it out of love and not a feeling of superiority... after all we are sinners, too. This is what Paul did when he rebuked Cephas and it is what we must be willing to do when we see others are not on right road.

Are there people in our lives whom we need to talk to in regards to wrongdoing? How can we bring up the subject without antagonizing them or nagging them? Are we willing to suffer in order to spread the Good News, even to those whom might not want to hear it?

O Lord, grant us the grace to speak your truth even when it might cost us dearly to do so.

Amen.