Texts taken from the “On Your Word” Missal September-October 2023

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)
3rd week of the Psalter

FIRST READING

From the book of the prophet Ezekiel (Ez 33:1,7-9)
The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for the house of Israel. When you hear a word from my mouth, you shall warn them for me. If I say to the wicked: ‘Wicked one, you shall surely die,’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, he, the wicked, shall die for his iniquity, but I will hold you responsible for his death. But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have saved yourself.” – The word of God.

Commentary on the first reading

This reading reminds us that we are responsible for our brother’s fate. Following the example of the watchman, the believer is called to remain vigilant, to scrutinize the horizon of history in order to identify the signs of God’s mysterious presence and communicate them to the community, so that it may remain faithful to the covenant with its Lord. The watchman himself, and the task he performs, are a concrete sign of God’s love and closeness to humanity. In the community, in fact, he must first of all make those who go astray understand that they are not abandoned alone in their sin. Precisely because he loves humanity, the Lord does not withhold his closeness and corrective interventions. It is up to sinful humanity to accept or reject them. This was the mission of the prophets among the people of Israel. Even today, the Lord does not deprive us of his prophets, to call us back to the truth! The task of every believer is not only to condemn evil, but also to create the conditions so that those who go astray may convert. And the first of these conditions is not to judge presumptuously those who go astray, but to stand beside them and share the difficulty of the journey.

SECOND READING

From the Letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Romans (Rom 13:8-10)
Brothers and sisters, owe nothing to anyone, except mutual love; for whoever loves another has fulfilled the Law. For: “You shall not commit adultery, you shall not kill, you shall not steal, you shall not covet,” and any other commandment is summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to the neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the Law. – The word of God.

Commentary on the second reading

Here Paul lists the precepts of the Law, beginning with the one that gathers them all together: love for one another. Christian experience cannot be reduced merely to observing a set of rules and regulations. In reality, the only rule of Christian life is love; whoever loves thereby observes all the commandments and, in love, goes beyond the commandment itself. God has freed us from every law, because law restricts, but he has immersed us in a way of being: “God’s love has been poured into our hearts” (Rom 5:5). If we think about it carefully, rules are convenient, whereas love is very inconvenient, because it asks everything of us. Rules make us feel in order, because we can say that we have observed them; love, instead, is a continuous torment that we carry within us. Love makes us faithful to the rule, because love itself guides us. Love is freedom from the law; it creates a new law that saves everyone. Everything is understood in the light of love, and only love can illuminate the consciences and history of humanity and make them truly understandable in the eyes of a world without God and without heart.

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 18:15-20)
At that time, 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 back your brother; if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that every matter may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the community; and if he refuses to listen even to the community, let him be to you as a pagan and a tax collector. Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Truly I tell you again, if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask, it will be granted to them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” – The word of the Lord. 

Commentary on the Gospel of the day

The Gospel presents the theme of fraternal correction. Jesus teaches us that if “my brother” commits a fault against me, I must show him charity and, first of all, speak to him personally, explaining that what he said or did was not good. If he does not listen to me, Jesus suggests a gradual intervention: speak to him again with two or three other people, so that he may become more aware of the mistake he has made; if, despite this, he does not accept the exhortation, the community must be informed; if he does not listen even to the community, he must be made to perceive the rupture and separation that he himself has caused, by losing communion with his brothers and sisters in faith. The Lord asks his community to make an effort to accompany those who go astray, so that they may not be lost. Fraternal correction is an aspect of the love and communion that must reign in the Christian community; it is a reciprocal service that we can and must offer one another. Correcting a brother is a service, and it is possible and effective only if each person recognizes himself or herself as a sinner in need of the Lord’s forgiveness. The same awareness that makes me recognize another’s mistake first reminds me that I myself have made mistakes and continue to make them many times.