Twenty‐Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our God is a God of forgiveness and compassion. He seeks
to guide us in the way of righteousness without denying us
our free will. The good that He offers us far exceeds anything
we might hold of value in this life and is offered to us
for eternal life. He asks us to do the same for our sisters
and brothers.

In His compassion, God not only tells us how to aid our
sisters and brothers but also how to participate in our own
salvation. In our first reading God tells us that we are our
brothers keepers. If we know someone is doing the wrong
thing and we warn them of the consequences, we will not
be responsible for their fate. But if we do not speak up in
warning, God will also hold us responsible for their death.
St. Paul tells us that this responsibility God passed on to
Ezekiel is also passed on to us. It is based on the second
half of the greatest commandment. “You shall love your
neighbor as yourself”. The other commandments flow
from this.

Jesus reinforces this commandment and tells us how to proceed
to overcome the resistance we might receive as we
seek to tell our brothers and sisters about their sins. Jesus
tells us that where two of us agree about anything for which
we pray, God will grant it because He is in our midst.