“Amen, I say to you,
Matthew 18:15-20
whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven,
and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Again, amen, I say to you,
if two of you agree on earth
about anything for which they are to pray,
it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father.
For where two or three are gathered together in my name,
there am I in the midst of them.”
What we set loose on earth is loosed in heaven, and what we bind is bound with heaven's chains. What we forgive indeed has been forgiven, and what we punish perishes in flames. Where two or three are gathered, you are present, as real as once in Bethlehem new-born. We bathe your feet with tears in our forgiveness, or crown you with our own resentment's thorns. O Christ, you came to loose the floods of mercy, to bind the tempter far from those he'd harm. Give us to drink that flood, for we are thirsty, and gether us in heaven's open arms. Set free all those you call sisters and brothers, and bind the sins that we so often choose. Let it be mercy we set loose for others, and let us bind ourselves ever to you.
Brooklyn Museum – Two or Three Gathered in my Name (Deux ou trois personnes assemblées en mon nom) – James Tissot – Online Collection of Brooklyn Museum; Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2007, 00.159.43_PS2.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10957342
Kate Bluett 