Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jan 15 2025

Scripture Study for

Today’s first reading is an oracle of appointment, a personal message to the prophet himself. Ezekiel is called to be a watchman. He is entrusted with keeping watch over the entire house of Israel. He fulfills this role when he proclaims God’s words of warning, and God will hold him responsible if he does not protect the people by means of his proclamation. The wording of the oracle implies that there is still time for the people. The sinner can still be called back from sin. However, in a very real sense this all depends upon the prophet’s fidelity to his call to be watchman.

Paul tells the Christians of Rome that on the one hand they should owe nothing, while on the other hand they should owe everything, for love requires total self-giving. The debt of love is not an obligation that can be paid once for all. It is more like interest for which we are always liable. Love will take different forms, depending upon circumstances. When we truly love others, we desire only what is good for those we love. Following the teaching of Jesus, the love that Paul exhorts is to be extended to all people without exception. According to Paul, love is the fulfillment of the law.

Reconciliation within the community is such a pressing concern that its maintenance is a matter of church discipline. The Gospel reading describes the procedure to be followed in achieving it. The importance of the community in this process is apparent. First, it is the entire group of disciples, not merely its leader, that exercises disciplinary power. Second, Jesus declares that any agreement arrived at by two members of this group will be heard. He is not here talking about prayer in general, but prayer for guidance in coming to a decision that will affect the community’s well-being. Jesus promises to be present in his church if the members turn to him for guidance.

Jan 12 2025

Go and Tell—Carefully!

A watchman’s duty is well-defined: if an enemy ship is seen in the harbor, sound the alarm; if you don’t disclose the danger, then you are the one responsible for your city’s destruction. Jesus’ mandate to call out “a brother” is also clear: when there is a shining love between you and a fellow child of God, by all means, go and talk to him or her about the misdeed and try to set things straight.

But what if the relationship involves power? As we strive toward a climate of transparency in our church and in our culture, how to enact this Gospel grows murkier. Should you surface management mistakes to your boss? Must you speak to a parent about dishonesty? Do you disclose a superior’s misdeeds? Power stays in power by fear. When do you speak up? If you reveal “wickedness,” because of the power imbalance you may have to put up with anger, retribution, and the loss of your good name. “Go and tell” is a tricky directive in an environment of dominance. Those on the underside of power have been silent for centuries.

How do we determine what the Lord is calling us to say and do? John the Baptist spoke truth to power and was beheaded. Jesus remained silent before Herod and was crucified anyway. How much risk can we take? How do we find clear direction when we feel as though we’re walking in a fog?

In prayer and discernment with others, we ask: What does God want me to do? What is my motive for opening this conversation? Will speaking up worsen the situation? Like Ezekiel, if God is unmistakably calling you to “be a sentinel,” then proceed carefully, but in courage do proceed. Jesus himself suggests that we have a back-up plan ready.

Consider/Discuss

Think of situations when you have said nothing about wrongs that you have endured. What was the reason for your silence? In hindsight, what could you have done differently? As you talk this through with others, how might that discussion help you to handle a sticky situation that you are in right now?
St. Paul says to “owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another.” That is a real challenge. How can we grow into that inner freedom, that degree of boundlessness when we totally release our fear of others? How can we grow to be indebted only to God?

Living and Praying with the Word

Lord Jesus, you found yourself in many sticky situations. You know how tangled human life can be. As we gather together in your name, be here in our midst and give us clarity. Over and over again, you said in the Gospels, “Do not be afraid.” But sometimes we are afraid to speak up. Sometimes it is right to be cautious about speaking up. Send us your Holy Spirit in abundance to reveal to us the best direction to take. Mother Mary, untangler of knots, pray for us!

Jan 12 2025

Scripture Study for

Drawing on the analogy of a watchman, God reminds Ezekiel how crucial his prophetic task is. If a sentinel sees an enemy advancing against a city and warns the people, but they do nothing, the people only have themselves to blame when they succumb to the enemy. But if the sentinel fails to warn the people, when disaster strikes he is guilty of a great crime. A crucial element of the analogy is the correlation between physical death and the death of sin, which is no less real for being “spiritual.” Not to warn the wicked of their sinfulness is as disastrous a dereliction of duty as failing to warn them of impending (but preventable) physical destruction.

As he continues to exhort the Romans to conform themselves to Christ rather than to the age, Paul focuses on the call to love as a manifestation of the Christian’s conformity to Christ. A little earlier in the letter, he had urged the Romans to avoid repaying evil with evil, but instead to bless, live at peace, “conquer evil with good” (12:21). Since loving others is the fulfillment of the law, which the Christian must heed as the will of God, we are obliged to love others—it is a debt we owe them. The earlier exhortation makes clear that this “debt” extends even to those who persecute or harm us; it is not an option.

Jesus’ instructions make it clear that when the church must address sin, it should be done in a way that minimizes publicity and shame. The intention is to right the wrong, not to punish. The process thus begins between the two individuals involved, expanding beyond them only if necessary. Only those who, after repeated attempts, refuse to listen should be treated “as a Gentile or tax collector,” in other words, “excommunicated.” It’s helpful here to recall Jesus’ attitude toward Gentiles and tax collectors in this Gospel (9:10–11), which is to invite them into the kingdom, suggesting that his desire is that the “excommunication” be not only a last resort, but also not the last word.

Jan 06 2025

The Cost of a Re-Newed World

Does Jesus really mean this? Hate my parents? My siblings? My spouse and children? Hate myself and spend my life carrying “my cross”? “Give up all possessions”? Is this another example of Jesus’ hyperbole, like when he said, “If your hand offends, you, cut it off. If your eye leads you to sin, pluck it out”? What are we getting ourselves into, if we follow Jesus?

We are getting into the most radical commitment of our lives—to accept Christ as our Lord and Savior. We are committing to him and his mission to bring new life to the world, and to bring all our relationships into our life in him. We commit to work at having that mind in us that was in Christ Jesus.

We are getting ourselves into bringing about a re-newed world, where a new sense of family moves us beyond blood ties, a new sense of self takes us beyond personal fulfillment, a new sense of relationship to possessions carries us beyond “shop, shop, shop.”

Paul was inviting Philemon to enter into this new world. Philemon’s slave, Onesimus, his “property,” had run away, a capital offense, punishable even by death. Paul asks the slave owner to take back the slave as a brother in Christ. One wonders what a different world we might have if this short letter (only twenty-five verses) had been read, preached, and heard yearly over the centuries.

So count the cost, know what’s at stake, and commit this day to Christ the Lord.

Consider/Discuss

What tower are you building? What battle are you willing to engage in for the sake of the kingdom of God?
Do you love and trust Jesus enough to follow him daily?

Responding to the Word

All-wise and all-knowing God, give us a share in your wisdom and the courage to commit to building up your kingdom in our world. Give us the strength to fight against all that is evil and destructive of your creation. Send your Spirit that we might live more fully in Christ.

Jan 06 2025

Scripture Study for

Wisdom insists that no one can fathom the mind of God; no one can know God’s will. Yet, we are required to live in accord with that will. The wisdom tradition states that frequently we discover new things about our world and our lives even before we have an understanding of our discoveries. It also acknowledges that there is a dimension to human beings that seeks a wisdom beyond that achieved by reflection on experience alone. The realization of human limitation prompted the author to exclaim that we will attain the wisdom we so sorely seek only if God bestows it upon us.

Paul’s Letter to Philemon is a personal appeal to Philemon to accept back with no recriminations a slave who had escaped his household and his control. Though Paul does not criticize slavery itself, he does suggest a way of relating with the slave that will eventually undermine the philosophy that undergirds slavery. Since he taught that in Christ there are no longer slaves or free persons, but that all are children of God, he relies on Philemon’s own understanding of mutual brotherhood and sisterhood in Christ to transform his attitude toward Onesimus. Now he challenges Philemon to witness to his own belief in this teaching.

Jesus explains the cost of discipleship. He insists on three conditions for true discipleship. His followers must subordinate everything to commitment to him, even the closest family ties. They must also be willing to bear the suffering that following him will entail. The burden will differ from person to person, but the requirement is the same—wholehearted commitment. Finally, they will be called on to relinquish all their possessions. Total commitment to Jesus requires the willingness to give up the comfort and security of a stable family life, as well as the willingness to spend all one has on that venture. Whoever cannot make such a wholehearted commitment cannot be his disciple.