Deacon Matt's Reflection

Reflection for 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Ezekiel 33:7-9: In this passage, the prophet is being reminded of his responsibility to be obedient to God and for communicating God’s messages to His people, clearly, accurately and unapologetically. Ezekiel’s role is alluded to being that of a sentinel or guard; watching over the people and warning them when their salvation is in jeopardy, because of their turning away from God, in disobedience. The prophet’s role is to alert and remind the people to repent of their disobedience and turn back to God; as persisting in their disobedience, after being warned, will result in their damnation. Ezekiel is warned that there will be consequences for him, if he fails in his role as prophet; reminding the people to repent of their sins and obey God’s Commands. Ponder that we all have a role to remind and encourage one another to persist in the faith and in obedience to God.

Psalm 95: “If today you hear His voice, harden not your hearts.” This psalm is a great complement to the first reading, as it encourages us to be open to accepting God’s Word and His Will; even thanking God, with joyful appreciation. The psalmist urges us to worship God, in humble and respectful adoration; demonstrating our reverence for God, as infinitely superior to ourselves. In the final verse, the psalmist speaks, prophetically, as Ezekiel did; reminding us of the consequences levied upon God’s people for disobediently rejecting God’s Word and turning away from God. Unlike the people at Meribah and Massa, we’re warned not to test God’s patience. The choice between obedience and disobedience seems so easy… but human nature is fragile and we’re prone to sin. Let’s pray for the virtue of conformity to God’s Will; our happiness and our peace!

Romans 13:8-10: Now, St. Paul so clearly and concisely points out the way for us to accede ourselves to God’s Will, most quickly and simply. Paul urges us, simply, to love one another and, ultimately, to love our neighbor as ourself. As Jesus shared, in earlier readings of this week, the most important of the more than 600 commandments in Jewish Law, were those having to do with our conduct in relationships. When we’re being called to “love our neighbor as ourself,” we’re called to treat others as we want to be treated. This means we’ll want to treat others with kindness, thoughtfulness, empathy, mercy and with respect for their life and their dignity. It sounds so simple; yet, we fail to treat others with the level of love that God requires of us. Let’s take time to contemplate how we might change, to become more loving.

Matt 18:15-20: Now, as we contemplate our level of being loving in our relationships, Jesus teaches us an example of how to try to resolve a conflict with someone. Jesus demonstrates sensitivity to the people we approach. Let’s be careful not to embarrass them, publicly, in order to safeguard their dignity and privacy. We’d want someone to do that for us, so let’s do it for others. Then, let’s give them a chance to be fair and reasonable. Maybe, the problem can be solved, easily, quietly and peacefully. Jesus always prescribes doing the gentlest and least extreme steps, before resorting to more public and forceful ways to bring justice and resolution.

What Jesus is showing us is that the loving way is always better. The loving and compassionate strategies for conflict management attempt to preserve relationships and promote peaceful resolutions. Are we doing our best to behave this way?

Deacon Matt