GENTLE REMINDER - C: 31st Sun in OrdTime

First Reading: Wisdom 11:22­–12:2 (30 October 2022)

“Therefore, you rebuke offenders little by little, warn them, and remind them of the sins they are committing, that they may abandon their wickedness and believe in you, Lord” (Wis 12:2).

The words of the Sage above inform us of the harshness of God’s message and action: He rebukes offenders until they would abandon their wicked ways. The impression created here is that God is a strict administrator, who strongly admonishes evildoers. The expression “rebuke” in this verse is used by the New American Bible, which is the basis of most liturgical books today. A similar tone is conveyed, too, by the word “chastise” that is supported by the Douay-Rheims American Edition and the Wycliffe Bible. However, most English biblical versions employ the term “correct” instead as found in the New Revised Standard Version, Common English Bible, and the New Catholic Bible, among many. This lighter portrait of God’s reprimand is emphasized in the Good News Bible by adding the adverb “gently” to “correct.” Thus, while some Bible editions underscore in Wis 12:2 God’s vehement reproach of wrongdoers, most accentuate his gentleness, fatherliness, and patience in correcting offenders.

The original Greek verb used in this verse is parapiptō, which is the compound form of para (“along”) and piptō (“to fall”) that denotes the sense of “falling away”. In this regard, it can be argued that parapiptō etymologically does not infer a vigorous scolding of delinquents, but a plain manifestation of concern on someone, lest such a person falls away into sin. This notion reverberates the virtue of fraternal correction, wherein one cautions another away from sinning by means of a gentle or even tender reminder.

Accordingly, this warning is done “little by little” with the hope that the other would change his/her ways and begin to believe in the Lord.

This alternate reading of parapiptō that hints at a gentle reminder against committing mistakes is corroborated by its lexical definition that relates it with the prohibition “to fail to follow through on a commitment, [to] fall away, [to] commit apostasy” as evinced in Wis 6:9; 12:2; Ezk 22:4; Heb 6:6 (cf. BDAG). Under this context, every correction made is not meant to insult, demean, or humiliate another for his/her errors, but to guide him/her not to be led astray and to repent from the mistakes of the past.

Thus, any open-minded person sees every disapproval thrown at him/her as an honest attempt to help him/her attain righteousness and sanctity.

The Sage speaks with the same disposition. He counsels his audience that a similar catastrophe that had happened to the Egyptians could be repeated if they would not change their ways. Particularly, he recalls God’s punishment on the Egyptians for their evil ways by means of an overflowing of water (11:6-14), an attack of animals (11:15–16:15), a plaque of storms (16:16-29), a terrifying darkness (17:1-18:4), and the death of their firstborn children (18:5–19:22).

Meanwhile, since the previous administration, the Philippine government has been treating all criticisms as attempts to inflict large-scale havoc, destabilize peace and order, sow division among the populace, and even propagate the establishment of a communist society. The latter is manifested in the red-tagging of several vocal oppositionists. Worse is that this kind of labeling is performed by leaders and spokespersons in large fora. Let us instead support press freedom and call for greater accountability and transparency among our public officials.

- Rex Fortes, CM