Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Care for Your Wounded Brother or Sister
Liturgical Cycle: A | Lectionary Cycle: II
Introduction
Greeting
Jesus tells us today:
Where two or three have come together in my name,
there I am among them.
We are here in his name
and so he is among us.
May he always stay with you. R/ And also with you.
Introduction by the Celebrant
If we really are the Church, we are a community around Christ, and we are brothers and sisters to one another. That means: we love one another, we accept and serve one another so much that we also have the courage to correct one another when our brother or sister errs. He or she is my concern because that person is my brother or sister. Let us pray with the Lord Jesus here among us that we may have that courage, and that our brothers or sisters may accept the help we offer to set them free.
Penitential Act
Do we love enough the Lord and one another,
and the community of the Lord,
to help one another when one goes astray?
Let us examine ourselves before the Lord.
(pause)
Lord Jesus, you hold us responsible
for a brother or sister who errs:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Jesus Christ, you hold us responsible
for the unity and integrity of the Church:
Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
Lord Jesus, you hold us responsible
for reconciliation not only in the Church
but even in the world at large:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Have mercy on us, Lord,
Make us aware of our own weakness
and give us the courage to help those who err.
Lead us all to everlasting life. R/ Amen
Opening Prayer
Let us pray to God our Father
that we may sustain one another on the way to him
(pause)
Lord God, our Father,
your Son Jesus Christ has brought us together
as a community of sinners who know
that you have pardoned us.
When our weaknesses threaten our unity,
remind us of our responsibility for one another.
Let your unifying Spirit give us the strength
to care for one another
and to do all we can to remain
a living, forgiving and welcoming community
where we keep meeting in the name of Jesus,
that he may be always with us,
now and for ever. R/ Amen.
First Reading
A Guard of One’s Brothers and Sisters: Like a watchman on the lookout for the enemy, the prophet must warn his people against evil, and every Christian must warn his or her neighbour.
For your part, son of man, I have made you a watchman for Israel; when you hear my word, you must warn them.
When I say to the wicked: ‘Wicked man, you shall die for sure,’ if you do not warn the wicked man to turn from his ways, he will die because of his sin; but I will also hold you accountable for his blood.
If you warn the wicked man to turn from his ways and he does not do so, he will die for his sin; but you, yourself, will be saved.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (8) If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
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.
Second Reading
Love Sums Up All the Commandments: Love one another as you love yourself. If you do this, says St. Paul, you have fulfilled the law. For love is the motive and the spirit of all the commandments.
Don’t owe anyone anything except love. The one who loves their neighbor fulfills the law.
The commandments—such as do not commit adultery, do not kill, and do not covet—are all summarized in this: You will love your neighbor as yourself.
Love cannot harm a neighbor; therefore, love fulfills the entire law.
Alleluia Verse
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ
and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Help Those Who Err: A Christian sense of responsibility for one another demands that, with firmness yet love, we help those who err. If one does not succeed, let the community help, for the Church should be a place of reconciliation.
On Forgiveness
If your brother has sinned against you, go and confront him privately, and if he listens to you, you have restored your brother.
If he doesn’t listen to you, bring one or two others with you, so that the matter can be decided based on the evidence of two or three witnesses.
And if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the gathered Church. But if he does not listen to the Church, then consider him a pagan or a tax collector.
I say to you: whatever you bind on earth, heaven will also bind; and whatever you unbind on earth, heaven will also unbind.
Similarly, I tell you, if two of you agree on anything you ask for, it will be granted to you by my heavenly Father.
For where two or three gather in my name, I am there among them.
Prayers of the Faithful
Jesus tells us today: If two of you agree to ask something, it will be granted to you by my Father in heaven. So we pray together to our Father, and we say: R/ Lord we are certain you will hear us.
– For the Church of Jesus Christ, that it may always be a place of reconciliation and the guardian of life and of all that is good; that its leaders too may always have the courage to call evil by its name, let us pray: R/ Lord, we are certain you will hear us.
– For all those whom God has entrusted to one another: our Christian families, our towns and cities, people who work together, and all communities, that love may inspire us to deal with one another with frankness and honesty, let us pray: R/ Lord, we are certain you will hear us.
– For all those who suffer from violence and injustice, from prejudice, discrimination and hatred, that they may not become bitter, and that the victims of these forms of violence may still be capable of forgiving wholeheartedly, let us pray: R/ Lord, we are certain you will hear us.
– For us here in this community, that we may not condemn or write off one another but learn to bear each other’s shortcomings and to protect each other’s reputation, let us pray: R/ Lord, we are certain you will hear us.
God our Father, with your Son among us we pray: help us to believe in the goodness of each person and to be patient with one another, as you have been good to us through Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Prayer over the Gifts
God our Father,
you bring together at the table of your Son
the weak with the strong,
the sick with the healthy.
Let your Son fill us here
with the fullness of his presence,
that we may accept one another
and learn to live with each other.
We offer you our good will
and ask you for the strength
to welcome one another
in Christ Jesus our Lord. R/ Amen.
Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer
We remember how the Father sent us Jesus his Son when, by committing sin, we had broken our friendship with God. Jesus shed his blood to bring us back to the Father. Let us thank God for his love.
Introduction to the Lord’s Prayer
With Jesus present in our midst,
we pray with him the prayer
which he taught us. R/ Our Father...
Prayer for Peace
Lord Jesus Christ, you said to your apostles:
I leave you peace, my peace I give you.
Look not on your sins,
but on the faith of your Church,
and help us to not to tie our brothers and sisters
to their sins and past mistakes.
Grant us the peace and unity of your kingdom
where you live for ever and ever. R/ Amen.
The peace of the Lord be with you always. R/ And also with you.
Let us express now in our greeting of peace
how we want to be with one another
honest, forgiving and helping. R/ Amen.
Invitation to Communion
This is Jesus, the Lamb of God,
who takes away the sins of the world
and who shed his blood on the cross for us.
Happy are we to be invited
to his meal of reconciling love. R/ Lord, I am not worthy...
Prayer after Communion
God our Father,
your Son has been in our midst
and he has strengthened us with his body and blood.
He made our wounds of sin his wounds
and healed them.
Let the wounds of our brothers and sisters
become ours, their joys our happiness.
Let your Son teach us the art
of bringing those who err back to you
and into our communities
without embittering or humiliating them,
without any feeling of superiority,
but simply because they are our brothers and sisters
and you have been good to us
in Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Blessing
With Jesus among us,
at least when we are aware he is with us,
we can make our community
a place where we can speak freely to each other
and help those in trouble
to keep them in the community
or to win them back
and offer them new chances.
For we know that we are responsible for one another.
May God give us this openness and courage
and bless you all:
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.
May God be with you and keep you in his love.
R/ Thanks be to God.
REFLECTIONS
Matthew 18:15-20
When truth and mercy meet
In today's Gospel, Jesus shows how wounds can be healed. When someone offends us, we have a guideline for our reaction: our first task is not to gossip or retaliate. The Gospel calls us to approach the person privately, speaking truth to “win” a brother or sister, not an argument.
Fr Armellini helps us see that fraternal correction is an act of rescue. The person who has offended us still remains a brother or sister. Each widening circle, private conversation, trusted witnesses, and the community, must always be meant to recover communion with the person, never to humiliate or condemn. Even the unresponsive person must be regarded through the eyes of Jesus, who approached outsiders and sinners with love.
I came across a woman who struggled to save her marriage with an alcoholic and abusive husband. Her argument was simple: “If my husband had a terminal illness, I would care for him with the utmost love and compassion. To me, his alcoholism is another type of illness, which could be terminal. The Lord brought him into my life, perhaps because He knows I will take care of him and I will not abandon him.”
Fr Ron Rolheiser reminds us that Christ overcame division by absorbing hatred and returning love, receiving bitterness and giving back graciousness. Reconciliation requires the spiritual strength to hold pain without transmitting it, to speak honestly without cruelty, and to forgive without pretending that wrongdoing does not matter.
Reconciliation is not achieved by human skill alone. Christ enters every conversation, softens hardened hearts, and transforms conflict into a doorway for grace.
Today, we may ask: Is there someone I discuss with others but avoid addressing directly? Am I seeking restoration or vindication? May Jesus give us courage to initiate dialogue, humility to listen, and mercy to loosen every chain of resentment.