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Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time Mass Readings
First Reading: Ezekiel 33:7-9
Responsorial: Psalm 95:1-2, 6-9
Second Reading: Romans 13:8-10
Gospel: Matthew 18:15-20
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/090620.cfm
https://www.deaconrudysnotes.org
Today’s readings help us understand what it means to live a Christian life. With many of our nations so polarized, it is crucial to understand what it means to be a Christian now more than ever.
Paul tells us today that the entire law can be summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Romans 13:9). This is a super important point to understand about our faith. You see, the Ten Commandments and indeed the 613 Jewish commandments are not a list of things of what to do or what not to do. At their core, the commandments teach us about loving God (Hahn, 235). Some commandments pertain to our relationship with God, and the others inform our relationships with our fellow humans, but grounding all of these rules is love.
Scripture teaches us that God is love. Now, there are several words for love in Greek. Eros describes a love which finds satisfaction in the person or thing loved. Philia means companionship or friendship. But Agape is a very different kind of love. It’s a love completely centered on the one loved (Himes, 128). The closest English translation is “self-gift.” When we think about the Trinity, we think of perfect self-gift, perfect reception, and perfect self-gift. So, we can say that God is least wrongly thought of as a relationship (Himes, 136).
In today’s Gospel, Jesus says, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there in the middle of them” (Matthew 18:20). Jesus is not telling us that whenever we get together with anyone, he is with us. What this means is that whenever people come together in true mutual love, in genuine concern and care for one another, in other words, agape, Jesus is there among them” (Himes). That’s why Paul tells us, “Love does not do any evil to the neighbour – therefore love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:10).
As Christians, we should look to others – especially other Christians who are created in the image and likeness of God with mutual love and genuine concern. That’s why Jesus tells us about how we should handle disagreements with our brothers and sisters (Matthew 18:15-19). Saying hurtful things, especially in the anonymity of social media, horrible things, or saying they aren’t Christian is precisely the opposite of what the Gospel is challenging us to do.
Take the US elections, for example. Now please hear me out. Some people are laser-focused on abortion, so much so that if you say you’re voting for a pro-choice candidate, you are accused of not being Catholic. May I ask a question? If the person voting this way doesn’t believe this is a problem, do you honestly think berating them about their vote is going to win hearts and minds for Jesus? I assure you it won’t any more than locking a woman up if she has an abortion.
I want to be clear. I most emphatically affirm life, from the womb to the tomb. I think the election is a symptom of a much larger problem. We need to get to of the root problem, and one election is just not going to cut it. Like the examples Jesus gives us in Scripture, we meet people where they are. As missionary disciples, we need to help spread the Church’s understanding of God’s relationship with us – about love. But if social media gives us any indication, sometimes that means acknowledging that we might not be the best mediators of that message. Maybe we need to share a good book on this topic with them. Maybe we suggest a particularly good video on the subject. Maybe we offer to host a watch party for one of these videos or movies? There are many ways to evangelize but at the heart of it has to be love – not anger or prejudice or vitriol – love.
The point is, we cannot find God in conflict and anger or hate or the anonymity of social media. That’s why our responsorial today is, “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts” (Psalm 95). The exercise that Jesus outlines in today’s Gospel is really about trying to reconcile people – about trying to avoid the extreme, although that does happen. But before it gets to that point, we should try to understand and pass on the Church’s teachings out of love – out of a real desire for conversion. To prepare ourselves for this task, we need a little homework!
Nourished by the Word of God and the Eucharist, I encourage you to reflect on the following two questions this week:
- When have you experienced God as love?
- How does love of neighbor obligate me to evangelize my friends and family?
Doing our homework today will help us treat and work with other people I encounter through love. Do you got it? Do you get it? Good! Now go make disciples! May Almighty God bless you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit! +Amen!
Image Credit: Prayer. Artist unknown. JPEG file.
References:
1. Hahn, Scott W. and Curtis Mitch. Romans. Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academics, 2017. Kindle.
2. Himes, Michael. The Mystery of Faith: An Introduction to Catholicism. Cincinnati, OH: St. Anthony Messenger Press, 2004. Kindle.
3. Mitch, Curtis and Edward Sri. The Gospel of Matthew. Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2010. Kindle.
4. The Bible: A Study Bible freshly translated by Nicholas King. Buxhall, Suffolk UK: Kevin Mayhew, 2013.
Catechism References http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc.htm:
1. Christ’s presence, 1373
2. Reconciliation with the Church, 1443-45
3. Charity and the commandments, 1824
4. Love infused by the Spirit, 1972
5. Greatest commandments, 2055, 2196
6. “As we forgive those who trespass against us,” 2842-45
Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/090620.cfm
Lectionary: 127
Reading 1
Ezekiel 33:7-9
Thus says the LORD:
You, son of man, I have appointed watchman for the house of Israel;
when you hear me say anything, you shall warn them for me.
If I tell the wicked, “O wicked one, you shall surely die,”
and you do not speak out to dissuade the wicked from his way,
the wicked shall die for his guilt,
but I will hold you responsible for his death.
But if you warn the wicked,
trying to turn him from his way,
and he refuses to turn from his way,
he shall die for his guilt,
but you shall save yourself.
Responsorial
Psalm 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9
R. (8) If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;
let us acclaim the rock of our salvation.
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us joyfully sing psalms to him.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us bow down in worship;
let us kneel before the LORD who made us.
For he is our God,
and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
“Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
they tested me though they had seen my works.”
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Reading 2
Romans 13:8-10
Brothers and sisters:
Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another;
for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery;
you shall not kill; you shall not steal; you shall not covet,”
and whatever other commandment there may be,
are summed up in this saying, namely,
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Love does no evil to the neighbor;
hence, love is the fulfillment of the law.
Alleluia
2 Corinthians 5:19
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ
and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Matthew 18:15-20
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.
Amen, I say to you,
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.”
