2020년 9월6일 연중 제23주일
오늘의 복음 : http://info.catholic.or.kr/missa/default.asp
제1독서
주님께서 이렇게 말씀하신다.
7 “너 사람의 아들아, 나는 너를 이스라엘 집안의 파수꾼으로 세웠다.
그러므로 너는 내 입에서 나가는 말을 들을 때마다,
나를 대신하여 그들에게 경고해야 한다.
8 가령 내가 악인에게 ‘악인아, 너는 반드시 죽어야 한다.’고 할 때,
네가 악인에게 그 악한 길을 버리도록 경고하는 말을 하지 않으면,
그 악인은 자기 죄 때문에 죽겠지만, 그가 죽은 책임은 너에게 묻겠다.
9 그러나 네가 그에게 자기 길에서 돌아서라고 경고하였는데도,
그가 자기 길에서 돌아서지 않으면, 그는 자기 죄 때문에 죽고,
너는 목숨을 보존할 것이다.”
제2독서
로마서. 13,8-10
사도 바오로의 로마서 말씀입니다.
형제 여러분, 8 아무에게도 빚을 지지 마십시오.
그러나 서로 사랑하는 것은 예외입니다.
남을 사랑하는 사람은 율법을 완성한 것입니다.
9 “간음해서는 안 된다. 살인해서는 안 된다. 도둑질해서는 안 된다. 탐내서는 안 된다.”는 계명과
그 밖의 다른 계명이 있을지라도, 그것들은 모두 이 한마디
곧 “네 이웃을 너 자신처럼 사랑해야 한다.”는 말로 요약됩니다.
10 사랑은 이웃에게 악을 저지르지 않습니다. 그러므로 사랑은 율법의 완성입니다.
복음
마태오. 18,15-20
때에 예수님께서 제자들에게 말씀하셨다.
15 “네 형제가 너에게 죄를 짓거든, 가서 단둘이 만나 그를 타일러라.
그가 네 말을 들으면 네가 그 형제를 얻은 것이다.
16 그러나 그가 네 말을 듣지 않거든 한 사람이나 두 사람을 더 데리고 가거라.
‘모든 일을 둘이나 세 증인의 말로 확정 지어야 하기’때문이다.
17 그가 그들의 말을 들으려고 하지 않거든 교회에 알려라.
교회의 말도 들으려고 하지 않거든 그를 다른 민족 사람이나 세리처럼 여겨라.
18 내가 진실로 너희에게 말한다.
너희가 무엇이든지 땅에서 매면 하늘에서도 매일 것이고,
너희가 무엇이든지 땅에서 풀면 하늘에서도 풀릴 것이다.
19 내가 또 진실로 너희에게 말한다.
너희 가운데 두 사람이 이 땅에서 마음을 모아 무엇이든 청하면,
하늘에 계신 내 아버지께서 이루어 주실 것이다.
20 두 사람이나 세 사람이라도 내 이름으로 모인 곳에는 나도 함께 있기 때문이다.”
September 6, 2020
Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Daily Mass : http://www.catholictv.com/shows/daily-mass
Reading 1
ez 33:7-9
You, son of man, I have appointed watchman for the house of Israel;
when you hear me say anything, you shall warn them for me.
If I tell the wicked, “O wicked one, you shall surely die, ”
and you do not speak out to dissuade the wicked from his way,
the wicked shall die for his guilt,
but I will hold you responsible for his death.
But if you warn the wicked,
trying to turn him from his way,
and he refuses to turn from his way,
he shall die for his guilt,
but you shall save yourself.
Responsorial Psalm
ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9
Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;
let us acclaim the rock of our salvation.
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us joyfully sing psalms to him.
R/ If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us bow down in worship;
let us kneel before the LORD who made us.
For he is our God,
and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.
R/ If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
“Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
they tested me though they had seen my works.”
R/ If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Reading 2
rom 13:8-10
Brothers and sisters:Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another;
for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery;
you shall not kill; you shall not steal; you shall not covet, ”
and whatever other commandment there may be,
are summed up in this saying, namely,
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Love does no evil to the neighbor;
hence, love is the fulfillment of the law.
Gospel
mt 18:15-20
“If your brother sins against you,
go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.
If he listens to you, you have won over your brother.
If he does not listen,
take one or two others along with you,
so that ‘every fact may be established
on the testimony of two or three witnesses.’
If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church.
If he refuses to listen even to the church,
then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector.
Amen, I say to you,
whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven,
and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Again, amen, I say to you,
if two of you agree on earth
about anything for which they are to pray,
it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father.
For where two or three are gathered together in my name,
there am I in the midst of them.”
http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
The Measure of Love
Perhaps we can best appreciate today’s gospel passage by recalling that it is immediately preceded by the parable of the lost sheep. In that passage, the shepherd leaves the ninety-nine sheep and goes in search of the one stray sheep, so much does he value that lost sheep.
Today’s message about a sin committed by a brother, is not intended to provide an outline for an increasingly intense juridical procedure whose intention is to get a person to admit that he’s wrong so that he can be punished. It is an exercise of love for the brother who is a sinner, a lost sheep. Love, which knows no limits, moves one to do whatever can be done to bring back the brother from a place of serious sin to the joy of repentance. The increasing intensity—from a one-on-one conversation to a small group to “the Church” to pointing out that the sin has broken the person’s relationships with the Body—only illustrates the depth of love one ought to have for the sinner. His very life is a stake—do all that you can to persuade him to return and, if needed, enlist the help of others to do so!
When we have been hurt, seriously hurt by another, the sting tends to propel us toward seeking some form of revenge or making the offender hurt in some way. But the gospel proposes love as a remedy.
In the culture in which we live, we seem to vacillate between two extremes. On the one hand we hear voices constantly shouting on social media, broadcasting someone’s faults to a wide audience. On the other hand, many of us revert to a complete withdrawal from pointing out faults, usually with “who am I to judge?” as our justification. It seems that on both ends, the focus remains on “me,” rather than on love for a person who sins.
In the face of someone who is in serious sin, we are called to go against the tendency to think only of ourselves and, instead, to pray for the grace to love the sinner, to see in him or her the lost sheep. Then, moved by love, we ask for the grace to do whatever it takes to bring the sinner to repentance.
http://www.presentationministries.com/obob/obob.asp
THE HIGHEST STANDARDS FOR UNITY
“If your brother should sin against you, go and point out his sin.” —Matthew 18:15, our translation
Jesus prays that His Church would be one as He and His Father are one (Jn 17:21). Jesus has exceptionally high standards for unity in His Church so that the world would believe that the Father sent Jesus (Jn 17:21). This may come as a surprise to us, for our experience in our local churches may be that of denominational and factional disunity. Yet Jesus never changes His standards. He insists on His Church reflecting the unity of the Trinity.
To prevent disunity, dispel disunity, and build unity, the Holy Spirit works in the following ways. He gives us:
• the Sacrament of Reconciliation,
• the responsibility and wisdom to correct our brothers and sisters in Christ (see Ez 33:8; Mt 18:15),
• the charity and discipline to keep our differences with another brother or sister private (see Mt 18:15),
• the deeper presence of Jesus and the power of prayer when Christians gather in unity in Jesus’ name (see Mt 18:19-20),
• submission to the authority of the leaders of our church (see Mt 18:17), and
• redemptive suffering (see Jn 11:51-52).
The Holy Spirit enables us never to have to settle for less than the best unity in the Church. However, we must be docile to the Holy Spirit and follow His ways of reconciliation and unity exactly and sacrificially. Come, Holy Spirit of unity! (see 1 Cor 12:13; Eph 4:3) Come and give us a new Pentecost of unity!
Prayer: Father, free the Church to accept her participation in the unity of the Trinity, as soon as possible.
Promise: “Owe no debt to anyone except the debt that binds us to love one another.” —Rm 13:8
Praise: Have you ever been put in jail for “proclaiming the resurrection of the dead in the person of Jesus”? (see Acts 4:1-3) Risen Jesus, give me the strength of Your apostles!
http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/readings/
What's the best way to repair a damaged relationship? Jesus offers his disciples spiritual freedom and power for restoring broken or injured relationships.
Don't brood over an offense - speak directly and privately
What can we learn from Jesus' instructions about how to mend a damaged relationship (Matthew 18:15-20)? If you feel you have been wronged by someone, Jesus says the first step is to speak directly but privately to the individual who has done the harm. One of the worst things we can do is brood over our grievance. This can poison our mind and heart and make it more difficult to go directly to the person who caused the damage.
Seek the help of wise Christians
If we truly want to settle a difference with someone, we need to do it face to face. If this fails in its purpose, then the second step is to bring another person or persons, someone who is wise and gracious rather than someone who is hot-tempered or judgmental. The goal is not so much to put the offender on trial, but to persuade the offender to see the wrong and to be reconciled. And if this fails, then we must still not give up, but seek the help of the Christian community. Note the emphasis here is on restoring a broken relationship by seeking the help of other Christians who hopefully will pray and seek a solution for reconciliation based on Christian love and wisdom, rather than relying on coercive force or threat of legal action, such as a lawsuit.
Pray for the offender - for healing and reconciliation
Lastly, if even the Christian community fails to bring about reconciliation, what must we do? Jesus seems to say that we have the right to abandon stubborn and obdurate offenders and treat them like social outcasts. The tax-collectors and Gentiles were regarded as "unclean" by the religious-minded Jews and they resorted to shunning them. However we know from the Gospel accounts that Jesus often had fellowship with tax-collectors (as well as other public sinners), ate with them, and even praised them at times! Jesus refuses no one who is open to receive pardon, healing, and restoration.
Set no obstacle in seeking to heal your brother's wound
When you are offended, are you willing to put aside your own grievance and injury in order to help your brother's wound? The Lord Jesus wants to set us free from resentment, ill-will, and an unwillingness to forgive. The love of Christ both purifies and sets us free to do good to all - even those who cause us grief. The call to accountability for what we have done and have failed to do is inevitable and we can't escape it, both in this life and at the day of judgment when the Lord Jesus will return. But while we have the opportunity today, we must not give up on praying for those who cause us offense. With God's help we must seek to make every effort to win them with the grace and power of God's healing love and wisdom. Do you tolerate broken relationships or do you seek to repair them as God gives you the opportunity to mend and restore what is broken?
Lord Jesus, make me an instrument of your healing love and peace. Give me wisdom and courage to bring your healing love and saving truth to those in need of healing and restoration.
Psalm 95:1-2,6-9
1 O come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
6 O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!
7 For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. O that today you would hearken to his voice!
8 Harden not your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
9 when your fathers tested me, and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: If someone has done you injury, by Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD)
"If someone has done you injury and you have suffered, what should be done? You have heard the answer already in today's scripture: 'If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone.' If you fail to do so, you are worse than he is. He has done someone harm, and by doing harm he has stricken himself with a grievous wound. Will you then completely disregard your brother's wound? Will you simply watch him stumble and fall down? Will you disregard his predicament? If so, you are worse in your silence than he in his abuse. Therefore, when any one sins against us, let us take great care, but not merely for ourselves. For it is a glorious thing to forget injuries. Just set aside your own injury, but do not neglect your brother's wound. Therefore 'go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone,' intent upon his amendment but sparing his sense of shame. For it might happen that through defensiveness he will begin to justify his sin, and so you will have inadvertently nudged him still closer toward the very behavior you desire to amend. Therefore 'tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother,' because he might have been lost, had you not spoken with him. " (excerpt from Sermon 82.7)
http://www.homilies.net/
Homily from Father James Gilhooley
23 Ordinary Time
Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time - A Cycle - Matthew 18:15-20
The Second Coming was history. The saved were partying in heaven. Missing was Jesus. Peter found Him at Heaven's gate. "Master, come for a glass of Dom Perignon." He replied, "Cephas, I'm waiting for Judas."
Abraham Lincoln said that only he has the right to criticize who has the heart to help.
A fellow crosses the street at the orange caution light. The traffic cop stops him. He discovers he is a fellow Irishman. Gently he says, "Your color like mine is green." The perp gets back on the curb. The light turns green. The man walks across. As he passes him, the cop says with a smile, "We don't give an Orangeman a chance around here." (Arthur Tonne)
To correct others well, when our responsibility. is an art form in rare supply. The day of Orwell's Big Brother and equally Big Sister are here. Who has not been bruised by authority figures? Each of us has left scars on others. Some were inflicted on family and friends. As the psychiatrist attests for $200 in his forty-five minute hour, the scars last. Our words inflict wounds for life. When our temper gets the best of us, it reveals the worst of us. It is better to bite your tongue than to have a biting tongue. Besides, the sins of others are before our eyes. Our own are behind our back. (Unknown)
Henry James was asked the three most important rules in the world. He replied, "The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. The third is to be kind."
The cop has much to teach us. He was not humiliating the pedestrian. Rather, he was emphasizing gently but firmly that he must cross on the green and not in between. He did not make a federal case out of the incident. He surrounded his reprimand with such good humor the guilty party could not fault it. The cop didn't find a fault; he found a remedy.
Mind what you say or you might say whatever comes to mind. (Unknown)
The policeman subscribed to Fulton Sheen's insight, "While it is possible to win the argument, your anger may lose the war." His intent was not to win a battle but to win over the offender. The cop believed that society is improved one life at a time.
Kindness is a language that the dumb can speak and the deaf understand. Correction does much. Encouragement does much more. It is sun to the soul. One word of praise can speak volumes. The smallest word of encouragement today is better than the largest intention to compliment tomorrow. Encouragement is oxygen for the soul. People who say something is unforgivable should get out of the way of people who forgive. (Unknown)
We do well to bring others up short with the same gentleness that we would hope they and God Himself would use on our dishonorable selves. A Persian proverb says a gentle hand may lead an elephant with a single thread. May ours be that gentle hand.
Putting others down should be but a portion of the punishment. For the Christian, the dressing down should be accompanied with forgiveness and, as Lincoln advised, the offer to help the other start again.
Count the number of people who encourage you. Don't worry. It won't take long. Then count the number of people you encourage. That won't take long either. We tell people to have a nice day, but we are reluctant to make it a nice day for them by paying a compliment or encouraging them. Why is that? Even Sigmund Freud could not answer that query. However, Freud would tell us our friendly neighborhood cop looked upon the guilty party as if he was what he ought to be. Thus, he helped him become what he should have been from the start.
So, the message on the couch pillow correctly reads, "Praise loudly and blame softly."
Jesus looked upon people and saw not terminal cases. Rather, He felt each had a shot at salvation. You cannot find anyplace in the Gospels where Jesus nixed somebody's plea for help.
If Christ won't give up on even on Judas, should we give up on people? He would be the first to advise us, "Never turn your back on any person. Miracles happen every day." Sometimes, the miracles are even worked by Christ through our encouraging words.
Ben Franklin tells us when we point a long bony finger at someone, there are three other bony fingers pointing at ourselves. Besides, love your enemies, for only they will tell you your faults.
Cold words freeze people. Hot words scorch them. Angry words make them angry. Kind words comfort them. (Blaise Pascal)
Homily from Father Joseph Pellegrino
Frjoeshomilies.net
23 Ordinary Time
Twenty-third Sunday of Ordinary Time: Minority Report
You heard the kids stirring this morning. You opened your eyes. It can't be morning already. It's Sunday, I have to get them dressed. You wash up. You get the kids washed up. You throw the paper inside and try to keep the kids from killing each other over who gets the comics first. You get some breakfast on and get some coffee in yourself and cereal in the kids. You look at the clock. 8:45 already! “Get the kids in the car, we've got to go.” You drive down your street. You seem to be one of the few families stirring. Everyone else is going to have a relaxing breakfast. It hits you. We are in a minority on our block. We are one of the few families that goes to Church Sunday morning.
Five of you made the trip to corporate headquarters in Phoenix. The second night four of the others found dates; three of them are married, but their view is what their spouses did not know wouldn't hurt them. So you go to a movie and it is so clear to you, “I wouldn't even think of cheating; yet, I'm in the minority.”
You are among ninety-six of the most brilliant college graduates who have been accepted to a particular medical school. Your excitement includes finally getting to study to be a doctor; as well as the new way you have to frame your life with an off campus apartment in a quiet area so you can study in the few hours you are not in class. You ask for the location of the nearest Church and find that there are only three others of the 96 who even believe in God. You are in the minority.
Most of the people in the office you work in do go to Church. About half of them are Catholic. You are shocked when someone talks about abortion and says, "Well, I'm Catholic, but I don't go along with what the Church is saying on abortion." Everyone else seems to be agreeing with the person. You are in the minority.
The sociology teacher in the high school asks, "How many of your families are active members of some Church or synagogue?" Less than ten of the 35 in the class raise their hands. You suddenly realize that you are in the minority.
Perhaps some of these situations or others like them have occurred in your life. Perhaps they occur frequently. Perhaps you have wondered, “Why am I the one in the minority. Why am I getting up early on Sunday morning when the rest are sleeping in? Why am I the one who is alone at the movie when others are out having a good time? Why am I the only one in Med School who structures Church into my crowded week? Why am I the only one who accepts the Church's teaching on abortion? Why is my family the only family going to Church?”
When questions like this disturb us, we have to remember, Jesus never promised that we would be in the majority. He just promised that he would be with us always.
The Gospel of Matthew revolves around this very theme. Jesus is with us, even if we seem to be just a small, insignificant number. In the beginning of Matthew, Jesus is called Emmanuel, the name that means, "God is with his people." The last words of the gospel are "Know that I am with you even until the end of time." Moreover, in the middle of the Gospel we have the concluding words of today's reading. "For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them."
We go to Church because we believe in Jesus Christ. We believe in his presence in Word and Sacrament. We need his presence in our families. We come to Church to get our spiritual batteries charged with the grace of his scriptural and sacramental presence. We come so we can have the courage to make it through another week, especially if we are called upon to stand for our faith. We come so we can pray, "Lord, my life is difficult at times, but you called us to marriage, you made me a father or mother, help me to answer your call well."We come to pray for others, "Lord, may the people on my block nourish the place you must have in their families. Lord, may the people at work learn to honor, value, and respect their marriages. Lord, may the others in med school learn that without you, medicine is a science without direction, Lord, may other Catholics stand behind your spirit in the Church, and Lord, may my family and the families of all in my high school class grow closer to you." And we come to receive the grace to live our lives in a way that proclaims the presence of the Lord on earth.
Our Church is big, but there are not many attending Mass in comparison to those who won't attend Church. We are, and will always be in the minority. But Jesus Christ never promised us that we would be in the majority. He just promised that he would be with us always.
Stmaryvalleybloom.org
* Available in Spanish - see Spanish Homilies
23 Ordinary Time
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