Can't solve that problem?

Jesus, help me try lots of ways to work out my problems! Amen.

"If a friend hurts you," Jesus said, "talk to her about it alone. If that doesn't work, tell someone else. If she won't listen, tell the church; and if she still won't pay attention, ignore her like a stranger. Pray together and God will listen, because wherever people gather in my name, I'm with them."

Imagine that you're having a problem, and you really want to talk to your mother privately about it -- but your sister is always around, being nosy. What would you do?

You might ask your mom if you can talk to her alone. You might get up early to talk to her in the morning. You might wait until she's driving you somewhere by yourself to bring up your problem.

If nothing seems to work, you might even get annoyed with your sister and tell her to go away, even though that isn't good!

This week's Gospel (Matthew 18:15-20) is about a problem like that. Jesus hears about someone fighting with a friend and advises the person to keep trying different ways to make peace.

Trying to solve a problem is like trying to catch your mother by herself: It doesn't happen easily! In both cases, you'll probably have to think hard and try different things to find a solution.

In the Gospel story, Jesus tells the arguing people to talk things over privately. If they're still angry afterward, He says to find a third person to listen to the problem and help them try to solve it. If that doesn't work, Jesus suggests they try talking with someone from their church.

Only if every one of those ways fails does Jesus say to give up on being friends with the person. Just like you'd have to keep trying to get private time with your mother, Jesus wants us to try every way possible to make peace before giving up on a friendship!