Fr. Fabian and Fr. Bruce Riebe reflect on fraternal correction through the lens of Sunday's Gospel, Matthew 18:15-20, and the witness of Saint Teresa of Calcutta. They unpack why confronting sin in someone we love calls for humility, prayer, and charity rather than judgment, sharing real stories of correction that healed and one that backfired. The hosts also mark the start of the Byzantine Catholic liturgical new year and Mother Teresa's call to "do small things with great love."
This week on Be Not Afraid, Fr. Fabian and Fr. Bruce Riebe open the show by noting that September 1st marks the start of the new liturgical year in the Byzantine Catholic tradition, a good reminder of the richness within the universal Church's many rites. The main conversation centers on fraternal correction, prompted by both the upcoming memorial of Saint Teresa of Calcutta and Sunday's Gospel reading, Matthew 18:15-20, in which Jesus instructs his disciples on how to address a brother who sins: privately first, then with witnesses, then before the Church.
The hosts trace fraternal correction through the example of John the Baptist, who confronted Herod's immorality and paid with his life, and through Mother Teresa, who confronted world leaders and built bridges between believers and non-believers while never losing her charity and humility. Fr. Bruce shares a personal story of a friend whose attempt at fraternal correction with his adult daughter, over the baptism of her son, went painfully wrong, illustrating how correction offered without a shared foundation of faith can backfire. Fr. Fabian returns throughout to the theme that correction without humility, charity, or love is not true correction, and that reconciliation itself is an act of fraternal charity rooted in seeing the face of Christ in the other person.
The episode closes with a reflection on Mother Teresa's own words to "do small things with great love" and a challenge to listeners to find the "Calcuttas" in their own lives: family, coworkers, and community members in need of compassion and presence.
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