Scripture Reflections for the Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time

“we have to recognize if someone sinned against you, that there needs to be a process of reconciliation that begins with one-on-one and then may involve others as well, all with the interest of truth and charity in mind”

“So even though Christians aren't under the Law, all the laws of Moses like circumcision, in the new covenant they still have to keep the Decalogue because the Christian vocation is to love and the Decalogue is all about love. It's about how to love God and how to love neighbor correctly.”

“as some scholars have pointed out if you say 'treat the person like a Gentile and a tax collector'...What it means is that they need to be evangelized again, they need the gospel to be represented to them so that they can be called to repentance and then reintegrated into the community”

“when people read these lines in Matthew 18 they move too quickly to an individualistic interpretation of it and they forget...that reconciliation with God is really inseparable from reconciliation with the one church of Christ”

“The challenges of our church and our world are invitations to continuous discernment of how to dialogue, to forgive, and to be obedient to the urgings of the Spirit”

“If you're trying to win the argument you're not doing what Christ is asking you to do. If you're trying to win over the person then you're following Christ's way.”

“And with understanding comes the opportunity for transformation. Repentance by those who caused the harm, healing for those harmed.”

“Jesus tells his followers that when we encounter a truly unrepentant brother or sister who refuses to accept even the Church's arbitration powers we should treat him or her like a tax collector. So speaks Matthew the tax collector who had been treated with great compassion by the Lord himself.”

“can you imagine just how more powerful the Christian nation would be if we ever stop and began to speak in one accord? How much more powerful could we possibly be if we ever stop fighting each other and began to work, speak and pray for one thing?”

“when I look back at all the conflicts in my life, the one's that have gone well have all contained those 4 elements: love, speak, listen, pray”

“People want to believe without belonging. However, believing the Good News entails belonging to the 'ekklēsia.' Belonging is essential for wholeness and holiness.”

“when it comes to reclaiming a lost brother or a lost sister no stone must be left unturned”

“in order to obey instructions from God it helps to be in relationship with God. And our relationship with God grows out of our worship with God and hardened hearts get in the way of worship, get in the way of authentic obedience, get in the way of authentic love.”

“Order is in being right relationship with our sisters and brothers and celebrating that relationship because we know it comes from God. That is what we are supposed to be all about...what we are growing to, moving towards, building ourselves into.”

“There will be times when maintaining firm boundaries is necessary to keep us safe, especially if we're the ones being harmed. But we are not called to give up on each other or on ourselves or on the very real and ever present possibility of redemptive love. Real love which does no evil to the neighbor”

“Can you imagine the society we could share, the world that we could dwell within if we experience and practice that gift of love that doesn't just come from God, is God?”

“Do not treat the other person based on who they are rather treat them based on who you are. You must not let the bitterness of the other person take away your own sweetness.”

“It finally takes a lot of courage to go to talk to one other person. That one person who has offended you so deeply that you are still recovering form that hurt. It takes a lot to go to them, doesn't it?”

“What does he say? We should first take a deep breath and say 'come Holy Spirit, help me not to be afraid to approach my family'”