[00:00:05] Hello, my name is Sally Moriarty-Flask. Welcome to: From His Word to Our Hearts, my weekly Bible Study podcast. Together we will explore the readings to be proclaimed at the Catholic Mass on Sunday, September 6, 2026, the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time.
This week's episode is entitled: Love Does No Wrong, and this week's readings are all about love expressed through correction and reconciliation. In fact, through the prophet Ezekiel God tells us that if we see someone doing evil and do not warn them to change their ways, their blood will be on our hands… meaning that we will be culpable for their actions, we will share the blame for their bad behavior. That is a consequential responsibility and one that requires not only love, but patience, thoughtfulness, and compassion as well!
As we journey through the readings this week, consider the following:
In the Gospel, Jesus presents a process we should follow to correct someone who has done wrong to us. His words remind us that the steps we take should be done with kindness and gentleness, because any one of us can stumble or fall on any given day. It may be our responsibility to correct someone today and they may need to correct us tomorrow! If we do as Jesus teaches, then we should be reconciled to one another. Unfortunately, the temptation to judge others lurks deep within the human heart, so how do we resist that? How do we correct others lovingly without doing wrong to anyone else?
[00:02:25] Let's begin in prayer:
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Heavenly Father, we praise you for the teachings of your Son in the Gospel and ask that you give us the strength to live according to what he taught. Fill us with your love so that we may share that love with others and resist the temptation to do any sort of wrong to anyone. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[00:03:02] Now that we've opened our hearts in prayer, let's listen to what God is telling us in the Scriptures.
[00:03:08] Our Gospel this week is from Matthew 18: 15-20.
[00:03:16] “[Jesus said to his disciples:] ‘If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the Church; and if he refuses to listen even to the Church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, 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 I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.’”
[00:04:34] This week the Lectionary jumps from Chapter 16 in Matthew's Gospel to Chapter 18. In Chapter 16, Jesus said - for the first time - that those who choose to follow him must take up their own crosses. And we might think that there is no connection between that declaration made by Jesus in last week's Gospel and this week's teaching about forgiveness - but we would be wrong.
In his 1937 classic theological work: “The Cost of Discipleship,” Dietrich Bonhoeffer (20th century German theologian, Lutheran pastor, and anti-Nazi dissident) wrote that Jesus “set [people] free to choose him or reject him.” That “no one can be forced, no one can even be expected” to follow Jesus. But once the decision to follow Jesus is made, “every Christian has his own cross waiting for him, a cross destined and appointed by God.” And that Christ's Passion “strengthens [every Christian] to overcome the sins of others by forgiving them.” That “the call to follow Christ always means a call to share the work of forgiving men their sins. Forgiveness is the Christlike suffering which it is the Christian's duty to bear.”
Bonhoeffer's words help us understand what Jesus is teaching in our passage this week. So, let's listen to what Jesus has to say…
[00:06:52] “If your brother sins against you,”
It is a reality of the human condition that people will offend each other… and let's face it, we are easily offended! We can recognize the offenses of others much more readily than we are willing or able to acknowledge our own mistakes. But by sin, Jesus doesn't mean a slight disagreement or a minor insult… he means a grave matter, a transgression of the Law.
[00:07:36] “go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone.”
[00:07:42] It is not the responsibility of the offended party to expose the sin of another… yet! We may reach that point, but we're not there yet. So, out of love and concern, Jesus says, invite the one who has transgressed to repent privately. The aim is not to expose the bad action of another; it is to bring about sincere and genuine repentance which results in reconciliation. And we hear that in Jesus' next words…
[00:08:30] “If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen,”
Meaning we've now reached the next step in the process, Jesus says…
“take one or two others along with you, that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses.”
[00:08:59] We've now reached the point where the offense can no longer remain private, and it must be shared with witnesses. In “The Cost of Discipleship,” Bonhoeffer writes that witnesses are necessary… to establish the fact of the sin, certainly, but more importantly “to prove the offender's refusal to repent.”
[00:09:30] “If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the Church;”
[00:09:37] This is the third step in the process… bringing the sinner before the entire community of believers - that's what Jesus means by Church - and not only the sinner, but the witnesses who can attest to the offender's unwillingness to repent. Again, the idea is not to shame or embarrass anyone! This whole process is to encourage repentance and bring about reconciliation. Bonhoeffer writes that the entire community “must call the sinner to repentance.” Then Jesus says…
[00:10:27] “if he refuses to listen even to the Church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”
All too often we misinterpret those words! Jesus does mean that those who are unrepentant should be excluded from the community because the persistence of bad behavior, of unrepented sin, can and will damage the community. He does not mean that the offender should be abandoned!
[00:11:12] After all, Jesus himself went to tax collectors and sinners, he ministered to Gentiles, Matthew was a tax collector. And it is no coincidence that this passage follows the Parable of the Lost Sheep. Jesus means treat those unrepentant offenders like lost sheep… keep trying to reach them, keep inviting their return, keep offering forgiveness, keep seeking them out, and one day they just may be willing to repent.
[00:12:07] This process does not, however, give us license to impose our own subjective opinions on others. It does instruct us to adhere to an objective morality… to judge appropriately without being judgmental… to offer forgiveness while avoiding moral superiority.
[00:12:45] “Truly, 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.”
In Matthew 16, Jesus bestowed that authority, that responsibility, upon Peter alone. Here in Chapter 18, Jesus now extends that authority beyond Peter to encompass all of his disciples. And that further cements the deep connection between forgiveness and discipleship that was so eloquently expressed by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
[00:13:30] “Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.”
We always have to be careful about translations… the NAB translates “anything they ask” as: anything for which they are to pray; and the words “it will be done for them,” the NAB translates as: it will be granted them.
[00:14:09] But even taking care with the words we use to translate Scripture, we must also be cautious in our interpretation of those words.
[00:14:23] Prayer is not magic!
It is very easy for us to look at prayer the wrong way and assume that if we just pray hard enough for something, or if we get enough people helping us to pray for a certain outcome, then God will have to give it to us. But that's not how prayer works!
[00:14:47] Nor is the opposite true… that if we don't receive what we've asked for, it's because we just didn't pray hard enough. Remember Paul said in Romans 8 that: “we do not know how to pray as we ought.”
[00:15:09] Even Jesus said, in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Father, let this cup pass from me… but not my will, but your will be done.”
[00:15:21] And so often when we pray for anything, we kind of forget that last bit… not my will, but your will be done. Because prayer is not about changing God's mind, prayer should change us!
[00:15:47] Then Jesus says…
“For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
[00:15:58] Jewish Rabbinic tradition says that: “When two sit together to study the Torah, the Shekinah glory rests between them.” And, of course, the Torah is the Books of the Law - the first five books of the Bible - what Christians call the Pentateuch.
And the Shekinah glory indicates the presence of God… and remember, the Shekinah glory is what rested upon the Tent of Meeting during the Exodus from Egypt to indicate the that God was present with his people; the same Shekinah glory filled Solomon's temple when it was dedicated to indicate that God had taken up his dwelling in the temple.
[00:16:49] So, Jewish Rabbinic tradition underpins Jesus’ statement. And we know that the Father in heaven was always hears the Son when he speaks. Jesus himself said that in John 11 when he prayed to his Heavenly Father: “I know that you always hear me.”
[00:17:13] So, when two or more are gathered - and notice this is not just any gathering, but specifically a gathering in Jesus' name - Jesus says that he will be with them.
[00:17:29] And because the Father always hears the Son, then the Father hears those who are gathered together in the Son's name. In other words, when Jesus is present with us, he intercedes for us… our prayers become his prayers.
[00:17:59] Those last two statements are meant to go together. Even Jesus indicates that by starting that second sentence with the word FOR! The word “for” could be translated as “since” or “because” - the Father will hear SINCE two or three are gathered in my name and I am in their midst… or the Father will hear BECAUSE two or three are gathered in my name and I am in their midst.
[00:18:35] This process of conflict resolution is at the heart of what is called the Principle of Subsidiarity, and essentially it means that issues should be dealt with and solutions created at a level corresponding most closely to those who are directly impacted by the problem… so, start locally and only involve larger entities when absolutely necessary.
[00:19:13] That process works not just for the Church, but in social, legal, and political contexts as well.
[00:19:26] However, even if we do try to resolve our problems in the manner Jesus just taught, even if we adopt the Principle of Subsidiarity, that still doesn't eliminate completely the very human temptation to judge others.
[00:19:47] So, how do we resist that temptation? How do we correct others lovingly and compassionately without doing any harm?
[00:20:02] Let's see if our First Reading from Ezekiel 33: 7-9 can shed any light on that.
[00:20:14] “[Thus says the LORD:] ‘So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, O wicked man, you surely shall die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way; he shall die in his iniquity, but you will have saved your life.’”
[00:21:11] In 597 BC, Nebuchadnezzar - the king of Babylon - deposed Jehoiakin, the Jewish king, and deported him to Babylon, along with many of his advisors, members of his royal court, and many members of the middle and upper classes of Jewish society.
[00:21:37] Ezekiel, being a well-educated, high-ranking priest in the Jerusalem Temple, was part of that first wave of Jews carried off into exile. Ezekiel is one of the four Major Prophets in the Old Testament - along with Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Daniel - and the book he wrote is one of the most well-organized of all the prophetic books.
[00:22:08] It is arranged chronologically according to the divine revelations or visions he received, and it can be divided into four sections.
[00:22:22] The FIRST section deals with the ministry and message of Ezekiel himself (and those are chapters 1 to 24).
[00:22:30] The SECOND section contains oracles of judgment against Gentile nations (and those are recorded in chapters 25 to 32).
The THIRD section contains oracles of restoration for the exiles (and those are found in chapters 33 to 39).
[00:22:55] And then the FOURTH section presents a vision of the new temple (and that vision is found in chapters 40 to 48).
[00:23:08] We don't know a lot about Ezekiel… we do know that he was 30 years old when he began his prophetic ministry because Ezekiel tells us so himself in the beginning of the book. We also know that he was the son of a man named Buzi, who was also a prophet in the Temple. Beyond those two simple facts, little else is known.
[00:23:44] This week we find ourselves in Chapter 33 of Ezekiel, which marks a major shift in the book; the oracles against Gentile nations have ended and God now entrusts Ezekiel to speak for him to the Jewish people. This is from that THIRD section, which contained the oracles of restoration.
[00:24:19] So, let's listen to what God is telling Ezekiel…
“[Thus says the LORD:]
God is speaking to Ezekiel, but - as we shall soon see - his words are meant for all the people as well… that includes us!
[00:24:42] “So you, son of man,”
Ezekiel is called “son of man” (lowercase “s” and lowercase “m”) to emphasize his humanity, to remind him of his human weakness, and to underscore his reliance on divine revelation and divine guidance. God says to Ezekiel…
“You son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel;”
[00:25:22] A watchman's job was to patrol the city walls and warn the city's inhabitants when danger approached. God is placing that responsibility on Ezekiel's shoulders, saying that it will be his job to warn the house of Israel when danger approaches them. That warning may seem a bit late, since the people are already in exile. However, God has something very specific in mind.
[00:26:02] “whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me.”
[00:26:10] God is saying that when he speaks to Ezekiel about any danger to the house of Israel, from without or from within, it then becomes Ezekiel's responsibility to alert the house of Israel, to relay God's words to them, to warn them of the approaching danger. Then God presents to Ezekiel consequences if he fails to carry out his duty.
[00:26:48] “If I say to the wicked, O wicked man, you shall surely die,”
[00:26:54] So, if God speaks a warning to someone who is doing wrong.
“and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way,”
Meaning that Ezekiel must share God's warning!
“that wicked man shall die in his iniquity,”
Okay… that is a severe consequence for the wicked man. So, he dies in his sin.
“but his blood I will require at your hand.”
[00:27:35] In other words, if Ezekiel doesn't warn the evildoer, doesn't try to turn him away from his intended wickedness, then the demise of the evildoer, the blood of that wicked man, will be on Ezekiel's hands… Ezekiel will be responsible for that death! That is also a severe consequence!
[00:28:08] But we have to keep in mind that morality, ethics, justice, good & evil, none of those things rely on human opinion… they are not subjective judgments that we make! Those are all objective truths grounded in God's teachings… in God's truth!
[00:28:38] “But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way,”
So, if you do your job and speak up when you're supposed to…
“and he does not turn from his way;”
If nothing you say changes his mind
“he shall die in his iniquity,”
[00:28:58] So, the wicked man still faces the same consequence - and therefore he will still die in his sin.
“but you will have saved your life.”
[00:29:11] So, even if the wicked man doesn't listen, even if the warning isn't heeded, even if the evil action still takes place, as long as Ezekiel has done his job and provided the necessary warning, then the wicked man's fate is his own fault and Ezekiel is no longer culpable in his demise.
[00:29:43] Ezekiel's job was to communicate God's words, to warn the house of Israel of any impending bad outcome engendered by their own bad behavior.
[00:29:58] Our job is, surprisingly, quite similar! Our responsibility, as disciples of Jesus, is to communicate God's will - God's teachings - in ways that attract and engage others, not frighten them, not demoralize them, not condemn them… just help them understand.
[00:30:30] There are clear and objective norms that define a moral and ethical life - these things aren't a matter of opinion - these things are not subjective!
They are grounded in God - in God's law and in his eternal goodness! That's why truth, goodness, beauty, are called Transcendentals… because they transcend cultural norms. And societal standards that arise out of those Transcendentals - things like: integrity, morality, justice, ethics - those are also not subjective… they are not simply a matter of opinion, different from one person to another.
[00:31:33] They too arise out of God's goodness - his law, his mercy, his love.
[00:31:44] Unfortunately, in our modern society, we have to deal with something called Relativism, which is altogether too prevalent and pervasive!
It denies any objective truth! To suggest that one truth defines me, but it's okay if another truth defines someone else… is Relativism, not objective truth!
[00:32:17] But we, as Christians, should not be swayed by Relativism - we cannot fall prey to that way of thinking.
[00:32:33] We are all members of the Mystical Body of Christ, so if one member goes astray... if one member deviates from the objective path of goodness, truth, and beauty… if one member turns his or her back on integrity, morality, justice, or ethics… then that impacts all other members of the Mystical Body - because we all are responsible for each other. And that means correction is no longer optional, it has become necessary!
[00:33:20] That's what we heard in this week's Gospel, and that was reinforced by this passage from Ezekiel. Jesus taught us - in the Gospel - how we are to go about correcting someone else… not with an aggressive attitude of superiority, nor with an anything goes attitude - but kindly, lovingly correct wrongdoings so that we are reconciled to each other and to God.
[00:33:59] That takes us to our Responsorial Psalm, which is Psalm 63, and the refrain is:
“O that today you would listen to his voice! Harden not your hearts.”
[00:34:13] And here are the verses:
[00:34:15] “O come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!”
“O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.”
“O that today you would listen to his voice! Harden not your hearts, as at Mer’ibah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, when your fathers and tested me, and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.”
[00:35:08] This Psalm is a Liturgical Hymn of Praise, a call to worship and obedience, a summons to praise God, and a warning against infidelity. The words of this Psalm teach that liturgy (which is the public and communal worship of God) - liturgy and life are intertwined - and not just intertwined, but inseparable! That serving God in the temple must result in reliance on God and obedience to his words when he speaks.
When the Psalmist says, “O come, let us sing” - he is issuing an invitation to the community to come and worship “the rock of salvation” - God who provides both the foundation upon which life is built and at the same time protects his people. The invitation is to “come into his presence” in the temple and to show exuberant praise by making “a joyful noise.” To “worship and bow down” in homage, to “kneel before the LORD” and surrender our will in order to obey his will, because God is the shepherd who cares for his flock, “the people of his pasture.”
In the final stanza, the Psalmist encourages the people to listen “today” - a reminder that each new day provides another opportunity to respond to God with faith and obedience, and to offer him right praise.
[00:37:18] The Psalmist also reminds the people of a well-known lesson from Exodus, the time when the Hebrews tested God in the wilderness at Massah and Meribah - an object lesson warning against stubborn, willful disobedience.
[00:37:40] That takes us to our Second Reading, which is from Romans 13: 8-10.
“[Brothers and sisters:] Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,’ and any other commandment, are summed up in this sentence, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”
This is the 13th passage we have heard from the book of Romans.. 13 out of a total of 14 that we will hear in this part of Ordinary Time. Last week, Paul reminded the Romans that they should be living sacrifices, that they should be holy and pleasing to God, and that they can't achieve any of that on their own.
[00:39:03] That - as members of the Mystical Body of Christ - every member has the duty, the responsibility, to help each other. And this week, Paul tells the Romans - and us - that the only way to accomplish that is through love.
[00:39:28] So, let's listen to what Paul has to say…
“[Brothers and sisters:] Owe no one anything, except to love one another;”
[00:39:39] Any and every other obligation in life is surpassed by our duty to love… love God and love neighbor. And remember, God first loved us – therefore, we must share that love!
[00:40:01] We must love God first and then love others - not just some others, but all others!
[00:40:13] “for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.”
[00:40:18] Christians have developed such a strange and complicated relationship with what is called “the Law” and we often think of that as something that applies only to the Jewish people.
But Jesus said in Matthew 5: “I have come not to abolish the law but to fulfill it.”
[00:40:46] Then Paul muddies the waters in Romans 10, saying: “Christ is the end of the law” and in Ephesians 2, that Jesus “abolished the law with its commandments and legal claims.”
[00:41:05] All of that certainly contributes to our confusion and sets up that very complex relationship we, as Christians, have with the law.
[00:41:19] So, what are we to believe?
[00:41:22] Well, Dietrich Bonhoeffer - remember him from earlier?
[00:41:27] Bonhoeffer also dealt with that very thing in “The Cost of Discipleship” – writing: “Jesus comes between the disciples and the law … not to release them from the duties it imposes, but to validate his demand that they should fulfill it. The fact that Jesus has fulfilled the law down to the very last letter does not release [his disciples] from the same obedience. But it is precisely [Jesus' obedience to the law and his insistence that his disciples obey the law] which makes it properly valid for the first time.”
[00:42:20] Those are strong words, to be sure, but Bonhoeffer makes those words dependent upon yet another declaration - namely that “Discipleship means adherence to the person of Christ.” Meaning that what Christ does, we - as disciples - must also do.
[00:42:52] That should help us clarify our very complex Christian relationship with the Law.
[00:43:01] And so from all of that, we need to understand that we still have to obey the Ten Commandments… we still have to respect Old Testament Law, not all 613 laws - because not all of them are pertinent to our state as Christians - that was declared by early Church councils… but we still have to heed the words and warnings of the prophets… and all of that is encapsulated in Jesus’ declaration of which law is the greatest (we will hear that at the end of October), but Jesus summed up the law and the prophets by declaring that we must love God and love neighbor. Even Paul then says to the Romans…
“The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,’ and any other commandments, are summed up in this sentence, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”
[00:44:22] Again, we'll hear that Gospel at the end of October, but notice that all of the commandments Paul mentions here are commandments having to do with others. In fact, all of the Ten Commandments can be broken down into two categories - those that define our relationship with God… and those that govern how we relate to other human beings.
[00:44:50] In Matthew 22, Jesus will say: “Love God and love neighbor” but even those statements are a distillation of Deuteronomy and Leviticus… so, Old Testament Law!
[00:45:08] Then Paul declares that…
“Love does no wrong to a neighbor;”
Meaning that what the Jewish people tried to accomplish by following the Mosaic Law, Christians are now expected to accomplish by faith-filled lives of love.
[00:45:36] “therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”
[00:45:42] Those words have to make us think of what love is, of what it means, of who love is!
[00:45:56] Love is not simply avoiding actions that are unkind or deleterious… love draws us outside of ourselves to support, nourish, and encourage others.
[00:46:18] Love is willing the good of another, according to Saint Thomas Aquinas, as you have heard me say numerous times.
[00:46:29] And we know that God is love… that we are to love others as Jesus has loved us… and that no one has greater love than to lay down one's life for a friend.
[00:46:48] Bonhoeffer wrote that: “the righteousness of Jesus submits to the cross because that is what the law demands.”
[00:47:03] He says that such righteousness is “a perfect and truly personal communion with God” - a communion which Jesus not only possesses but actually embodies, and a righteousness in which we share - a righteousness which we receive as a gift - precisely because we follow Jesus!
[00:47:35] Bonhoeffer says: “It is the new law, the law of Christ.”
[00:47:43] And as we heard from Ezekiel, we cannot be indifferent to the moral and ethical failings of others - that is not willing their good, that does not express love, that does not adhere to the law of Christ.
[00:48:05] Jesus gave us a process we are to follow to correct others.
Through Ezekiel, God reminds us that we are culpable, we are responsible for others if we don't correct them.
The temptation to judge others rather than correct them always lurks in our human hearts… but we must resist that temptation.
Because if we do all of that, we will correct others - gently and lovingly - without doing wrong to anyone!
[00:48:54] If you would like to reach out to me with questions or comments, send me an email at
[email protected]
Thank you for spending this time with me and until next we meet, may God shower his blessings upon you like a soft and gentle rain, and may he hold you safe and secure in the palm of his hand.
From His Word to Our Hearts is produced by SFS Audio Solutions.
The content of the show was assembled by me, Sally Moriarty-Flask.
Our music was composed by Jimmy Flask and is used with the permission of the composer. All rights reserved.
Information regarding references used in preparing the exegesis for this podcast is available upon request.
Thank you for listening and God bless.
