23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (September 6, 2020)

Today’s Readings instruct us on our responsibility to charitably correct our fellow Catholics. We must not allow our brothers and sisters to persist in error. Instead we must lead them back into the truth so that they may have fullness of life.

In the first reading, the Lord appointed Ezekiel as the watchman of the house of Israel. During wartime, a watchman would blow his trumpet to alert people of the approaching enemy. Should he fail to give warning of the enemy, he would be held accountable for any deaths.
In our own “culture of death,” we are the watchmen, reminding our friends that “you shall not murder.” If they have already done so, we urge them to accept their responsibility to repent, so as to live in the Lord.
Our Blessed Lord shows us the way: First we must speak to the sinner in private. If no wrongdoing is admitted, then a few others are to come along to help determine what transpired. If this still does not work, then we are to speak to the Church, the local community of believers.
Pro-Life Intercession: That we who are called to instruct and admonish one another may never fail to dissuade those who are tempted to abort their children, we pray to the Lord...