{"id":2257,"date":"2017-09-10T12:44:54","date_gmt":"2017-09-10T16:44:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=2257"},"modified":"2017-09-10T12:44:54","modified_gmt":"2017-09-10T16:44:54","slug":"23rd-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-a-homily-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/23rd-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-a-homily-2\/","title":{"rendered":"23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A – Homily"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>23rd<\/sup> Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A<\/a>
\nEzekiel 33:7-9
\nPsalm 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9
\nRomans 13:8-10
\nMatthew 18:15-20<\/p>\n

Today Jesus gives us guidance on how to respond if someone against us.\u00a0 It begins, as it should to avoid making a mountain out of a mole hill, by speaking with the person one-on-one.\u00a0 We need to realize that maybe they don\u2019t even realize what they did was wrong or the effect it had on us.\u00a0 If we point it out to them, they might immediately realize what happened and be sorry.<\/p>\n

If they don\u2019t, then Jesus says to bring one or two witnesses along with us.\u00a0 If the sinner still doesn\u2019t repent, then Jesus says to \u201ctell the church<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 If they still don\u2019t repent, \u201cthen treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, the steps Jesus offers to us are correct but I think it is important for us to reflect on why we take these steps.\u00a0 Do you bring witnesses just to prove you are right?\u00a0 Do you tell the church just because you want to show that you are right?\u00a0 Being right is not to be our motivation.\u00a0 Neither should judgment or a desire to see the person punished be our motivation.<\/p>\n

What should be our motivation?<\/p>\n

Our motivation should be to help the sinner become a better person.\u00a0 This should be rooted in our desire to love our neighbor.\u00a0 Our motivation should be for the building up of the Kingdom of Heaven by helping others to become what Christ calls all of us to be.<\/p>\n

Of course, the person might not like what we say that.\u00a0 They may think the way they are living their life is fine.\u00a0 That is their choice but we must speak up for what we believe in.\u00a0 Then, the choice is theirs.<\/p>\n

Why do I say we must<\/em><\/strong> speak up?<\/p>\n

Look at what the Lord says to prophet Ezekiel, \u201cYou, son of man, I have appointed watchman for the house of Israel<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 What does a watchman do?<\/p>\n

The watchman would be one who would watch over the city for pending danger from an enemy.\u00a0 In Ezekiel\u2019s days, cities would have appointed a watchman to watch for any coming attack by a foreign power.\u00a0 What is needed in our world today is watchmen who watch for the attack of our greatest enemy, the evil one who brings sin into the world.<\/p>\n

In our baptism we are all called to be priest, prophet<\/em>, and king.\u00a0 That means we need to speak up for justice and what is good.\u00a0 We need to speak against evil.<\/p>\n

This can be difficult to do.\u00a0 People might respond by telling us to mind our own business.\u00a0 People want to talk about their freedom of choice.\u00a0 Yet, they don\u2019t want to hear opinions different than their own.<\/p>\n

How can anyone really of freedom of choice if they don\u2019t know about the choices that our faith teaches?<\/p>\n

If we talk against choices people see as part of their freedom, sometimes what we say gets labelled as \u201chate speech.\u201d\u00a0 It is not our motivation and must never be our motivation to hate anyone.\u00a0 God loves everyone.\u00a0 In his love, he wants people to make good choices.\u00a0 God asks us to speak in ways that help people make good choices.\u00a0 Our words must be rooted in what Jesus tells us is the second greatest commandment, to love our neighbor.<\/p>\n

Does this mean that we need to go up and down the street pointing out every sin we see?<\/p>\n

Earlier I referred to the Lord\u2019s words to Ezekiel, \u201cYou, son of man, I have appointed watchman for the house of Israel<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 In the rest of that sentence the Lord said, \u201cwhen you hear me say anything, you shall warn them for me<\/em>.\u00a0 If we ask, the Lord will help us know when to speak up.<\/p>\n

The Lord goes on to tell Ezekiel that if He tells Ezekiel to speak up and he doesn\u2019t, that He will hold Ezekiel responsible.\u00a0 However, if Ezekiel does speak up and the person still sins, the Lord will not hold Ezekiel responsible.<\/p>\n

Clearly a parent must teach the truth to their children.\u00a0 When asked what we think, we must speak up for the truth.\u00a0 As I have said at others times, silence on our part can be interpreted as agreement.\u00a0 On the other hand, to brand someone as \u201cevil\u201d is not an act of Christian love.<\/p>\n

May the Lord always guide to know when to speak up and what words to say so that we can be a voice for Jesus and so that our lives show that we hate the sin but love the sinner.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A Ezekiel 33:7-9 Psalm 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9 Romans 13:8-10 Matthew 18:15-20 Today Jesus gives us guidance on how to respond if someone against us.\u00a0 It begins, as it should to avoid making a mountain out of a mole hill, by speaking with the person one-on-one.\u00a0 We need to realize …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A – Homily’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[82,150],"tags":[337,70,139],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMTPk-Ap","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2257"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2257"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2257\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2260,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2257\/revisions\/2260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}