TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
6 SEPTEMBER 2026
When
we say that we are going to church, we generally speak of going to a particular
church building. There are all kinds of
church buildings. Our church building is
pretty small, like the church building across the street. Other church buildings are much larger, with
varying degrees of importance. The bishop’s
church building is called a Cathedral, because that is where his cathedra, or chair, is. The church building at Notre Dame is called a
Basilica, because it has a special connection with the Vatican. Other church buildings are huge, like the
buildings of mega churches. But what all
of these buildings have in common is that the building is a house for the ekklesia, which literally means “the
called-out ones” – a group of people who have been called out to a
meeting. When go to church, we are
actually saying that we are going to an assembly, a gathering, a meeting.
A couple of
weeks ago, Jesus spoke of establishing this ekklesia,
this church. He established it on the
foundation of Simon Peter’s profession of faith. With the rock that is Simon Peter and his
successors, the gates of the netherworld will not prevail against it. Today, he mentions this assembly again and
promises that where two or three are gathered together in his name, there he
will be in the midst of them. Today,
there are more than two or three of us here, and we trust his presence in this
assembly. In the midst of this assembly,
he speaks to us in his Word and is truly present in bread and wine transformed
into his Body and Blood.
Even though
the Lord is always present in our church, in our assembly here, we know that
conflicts will arise. That is why Saint
Paul insists that it is so important to love one another, a love that sums up
all the commandments. In today’s Gospel,
Jesus gives some important steps on how to love when someone has offended us. The first step involves taking the one who
has offended us aside and confronting the person with the truth. Authentic love is not about arguing or trying
to prove a point. Authentic love means that
we approach the person as gently as possible to speak the truth. The goal is not to win an argument. The goal is to change the sinful behavior of
that person, knowing that all of us have behaved in ways that involve
committing sin and doing damage. This is
a difficult but important first step, because it is much easier to complain to
others behind this person’s back.
If that fails,
Jesus tells us to take one or two other members of the assembly with us. The goal is not to prove a point. It is to allow the person to hear the story
from other people who know the facts. If
that does not work, we need to tell the church.
Only after everything else has failed should we bring in other members
of the assembly. If that doesn’t work,
then we need to treat the offending person as a Gentile or tax collector. That means that the offense is out of our
hands and cannot be resolved. At this
point, it is clear that there is no way to soften a hardened heart. We can only begin the process of hearing the
truth in today’s Responsorial Psalm so that we can soften our hearts and give
the ultimate judgment over to the Lord.
This type
of expressing authentic love is very difficult, because it takes so much time
and energy. It is always easier to
gossip about the offense, telling everyone who is willing to listen. As a confessor, I find that the sin of gossip
is prevalent so often. Taking the issue
to the church is a very rare occurrence.
Gossip involves the entire church.
Ironically, gossip does much more damage to the fabric of a parish and
the presence of the Lord within that assembly.
Jesus Christ tells us to take the time to confront wrongdoing and
forgive. He gave the ultimate example
when he spoke the truth to Pontius Pilate at his mock trial and then forgave
those who brought him to a horrible death on the cross. He expects the same of us, his Body, the
Church.
