On Fraternal Correction and Rash Judgment
Gospel Reflection for Wednesday, August 13th, 2025
“Jesus said to his disciples: "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell the Church. If he refuses to listen even to the Church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector.” Matthew 18:15-17
Today, we hear one of the most familiar passages from Scripture regarding fraternal correction. Truly, this needs to be read in conjunction with Matthew 7:
“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce, you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” Matthew 7:1–5.
These passages form a type of spiritual guardrail for the spiritual work of mercy we call admonishment of the sinner. For the Christian, we are called to not stay silent when evil is happening, and yet, we must make sure that our correction is offered in both humility and charity while avoiding hypocrisy. Thus, the call that we have received to live a likewise holy life is immense.
Fraternal correction is a function of fraternal charity, which, in turn, is an extension of the love of God. We are called to not just love God but to love our neighbor as ourselves. This love extends out from our love for God, as we are to love what is of God in our neighbor for the sake of God. In his treatise on the Ages of the Interior Life, Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange writes of fraternal charity:
“In reality, charity does not love God only in man, but man in God, and man himself for God. It truly loves what man should be, an eternal part of the mystical body of Christ, and it does all in its power to make him attain heaven. It loves even what man already is through grace; and, if he has not grace, it loves his nature in him, not so far as it is fallen, unbalanced, unruly, hostile to grace, but so far as it is the image of God and capable of receiving the divine graft of grace that will increase its resemblance to God. In short, charity loves man himself, but for God, for the glory that he is called to give to God in time and eternity.”1
In truth, we ought to love our neighbor for the sake of God and for the sake of the potential glory that is there through the grace that is offered to all men for their salvation. Moreso, this charity is always a movement and an intention toward the salvation of their soul, as the good Father says in the quote above. He says that it does all in its power to make him attain heaven. This is what fraternal charity truly desires: the salvation of the one loved. It is in that spirit that fraternal correction can be called for by our Lord in today’s Gospel. This is the meaning of love for our neighbor as ourselves, or, as Our Lord commands at the Last Supper, as He has loved us. It is a desire of a working toward the salvation of the other.
Because of this, our charity cannot stop at anyone on earth, in heaven, or in purgatory. It is thus universal in nature. Specifically, here on earth, we are to extend this love to all people, regardless of who they are or what they have done. Fraternal correction finds itself into the equation when we encounter someone who has fallen into sin. For their good, and the salvation of their soul, we should offer correction in truth and charity. Fr. Garrigou says:
“Such is fraternal charity, the extension or radiation of the love we should have for God. Similarly, humility in respect to our neighbor is the extension of the virtue that leads us to humble ourselves before God and before what is of God in all His works.”2
We offer fraternal correction for love of God in our neighbor, but it must always be done in humility. We must remove the beam from our own eye, so that we can humbly assist our brother in removing the speck from his eye. This also extends to our own correction, understanding that we are sinners in need of the mercy of God. We must humble ourselves before God. In His mercy, God’s providence provides many opportunities for humility for the good in the form of fraternal correction.3
God allows the elect to fall into sin, according to His providence, so that humility can be exercised and the act of repentance be that much more an occasion of grace and glory. Often, this follows fraternal correction.
On the other hand, humility protects us from the sin of rash judgment of what is in others. We should remember that much of what irritates us in others is not grave sin against God but simply a clash of temperament or personality in us. We want to refrain from the sin of rash judgment so as not to judge our neighbor as guilty of mortal sin. We want to always remember that while we are able to judge the gravity of an action, we are never able to know the knowledge or consent of the person committing the action. To that end, we are not to pass judgment on whether they are guilty of mortal sin. In doing so, with full consent and knowledge, we commit mortal sin.
We always want to remember that as a matter of charity, our neighbor has a right to their good reputation, and insofar as we have an exercise over it, we ought to preserve that. This is why in today’s Gospel, Our Lord admonishes us first to go to our neighbor in private, and then with another, and then, when these things have failed, to the Church. Further, rash judgment is often false simply because we cannot know the inward dispositions of our neighbor.
Finally, Fr. Garrigou writes:
“Even if rash judgment be true, it is a sin against justice because, in judging thus, a man arrogates to himself a jurisdiction which is not his to exercise. God alone is capable of judging with certainty the secret intentions of hearts, or those that are not sufficiently manifested.”4
Part of humility is knowing what authority we have and what authority we do not have. We ought not be assuming the authority that only God has. That is a sure way to fall into sin.
In His goodness, God has given us these important guardrails to make sure that we are perfected well in charity. He has providentially ordered our lives to give us opportunities for humility and charity so that we might be perfected and come to union with Him. Part of that is correcting our brother in charity and humility while not being guilty of rash judgment, as well as accepting our own correction when we fail. In this, we and our neighbor are able to grow in humility and work for the salvation of our souls.
Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P., Three Ages of the Interior Life, Part III, 202.
Ibid. 206.
Ibid. 207.
Ibid. 209.
Amen. When both charity and humility lead, correction becomes less about proving someone wrong and more about walking with them toward what’s right. While speaking up for another's greater good, we must bow low enough to see our own need for God's grace.
Beautifully explained as always.