Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings of the Day
RB: Prol 39-44
Mass: Ezk 33:7-9; Resp Ps 95; Rm 13:8-10; Mt 18:15-20

Come, let us sing joyfully to the Lord.

HEART OF JESUS, FULL OF AND LOVE,
HAVE MERCY ON US.

Saint Paul, in his letter to the Romans, writes: "Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another" (Rm 13:8). One of the first places to find out about love is in the well-known passage in Paul's first letter to the Corinthians: "Love is patient, love is kind ..." (1 Cor 13:4-8). It is also a place to start before going about the fraternal correction asked of us through the mouth of the prophet Ezekiel in today's first reading, and by Jesus in today's Gospel. We are to be about building one another up, not tearing one another down. We are to be about building up the Body of Christ, not tearing it down. We have to help one another on the journey to God and everlasting life. And that includes talking to one another about sin. We can't "blow it off" so to speak and leave it to the mom, dad, boss, or superior. No, we have to be about helping one another through the love of Jesus. And that love is "not jealous, not pompous, not inflated, not rude, it does not seek it own interests, is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth" (1 Cor 13:4-7). Always too, no matter what, we do what Saint Benedict writes in his chapter on a "wayward" (RB 27:1) brother or sister, namely, "let all pray for him" (RB 27:4). For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them (Mt 18:20).

Today's photo: What I call a water lily, afloat in our garden.

© Gertrude Feick 2020