Jesus, you might recall, loved gentiles … he healed them … and had lunch with tax collectors, Matthew was one of them. But, clearly, some gentiles and tax collectors refused to follow Jesus and were not part of the communion of the Church. In several places in the scriptures, Jesus says to let them go their own way. But, if we are to live in community, family, Church and nation we need to learn to deal with conflict better.“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 18:15-20
Love of neighbor, grounded in the love of God, is first and foremost a responsibility for each individual member of the faithful, but it is also a responsibility for the entire ecclesial community at every level: from the local community to the particular Church and to the Church universal in its entirety. As a community, the Church must practice love. Love thus needs to be organized if it is to be an ordered service to the community. – Pope Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est
“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.” Matthew 18:20.