HOMILIES

Dear Audience,
For better understanding of the spiritual message behind this homily I kindly remind you to first read and contemplate the biblical texts before reading or listening to my preaching - a human reflection on the Word of God!

Twenty Third Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year A)

Sep 6, 2026

209

Listen Read

First Reading

A reading from the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel (33:7-9)

Thus says the Lord: 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.

(P) The word of the Lord.
(R) Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalms of David (95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9)

(R) 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)

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)

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)

Second Reading

A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans (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.

(P) The word of the Lord.
(R) Thanks be to God.

Gospel

A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew (18:15-20)

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 won over your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that every fact may 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. 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."

(P) The Gospel of the Lord.
(R) Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Homily

A boy who had stopped speaking completely around the age of three, suddenly cries out at breakfast one morning, "Mom, the toast is burnt." Amazed, yet scared at the same time, the mother gently hugs the boy and says, "My son, you spoke so clearly. Why have you been silent all these years? The boy replies, "Well, mom, up until now, everything was fine."

Transitioning from staying silent to speaking up requires immense courage because people grow comfortable with your quietness and often react with surprise, judgment, or resistance when you finally use your voice, especially when you choose to voice the truth; you confront the risk of being misunderstood, criticized, rejected, and isolated. Silence is a great virtue when it brings understanding, clarity, restraint, and peace, but it becomes dangerous when it allows wrongdoing, injustice, abuse, and deception to continue unchallenged under the guise of peace. Moreover, staying silent or indifferent to wickedness and evil makes a person responsible and complicit, as reflected in the Book of Ezekiel.

In ancient Israel, a watchman or sentinel stationed on high city walls and towers held two main duties: to watch for approaching messengers, enemies, or dangers, and to sound the alarm by blowing a horn or trumpet so the inhabitants could take cover or prepare for battle. If the watchman faithfully watched and delivered the warning, and the people ignored it, they bore the full responsibility for their own destruction, while the watchman was considered innocent and free of guilt. But if the watchman saw the danger or failed to see the danger approaching, or if he - for whatever reason - failed to give the warning signal, and people died as a consequence, the watchman was held responsible for their blood. So, a watchman in ancient days carried the responsibility of life and death. He had to be exceptionally diligent and vigilant because the physical safety and survival of the city depended entirely on his ability to stay awake day and night, spot the approaching threats, and alert the people early.

Ezekiel was a young Jewish priest in the temple in Jerusalem when Babylonian forces under King Nebuchadnezzar took him and thousands of others captive. During his exile, instead of carrying out his traditional priestly ministry of offering rituals and sacrifices, God called Ezekiel to be a prophet and told him that he was being sent to deliver a message of warning to people who were "rebellious, obstinate, and hard-hearted." God also warned him that he would be living among "briers, thorns, and scorpions" yet telling him not to be afraid of them or their words, whether they chose to listen or not, Ezekiel (2:3-6). Later, God explicitly appointed him as a "watchman" to the people of Israel, Ezekiel (2:17). It is in this regard that God reminds Ezekiel of his exact duty once again in today's first reading, Ezekiel (33:7-9).

Ezekiel declares, "Thus says the Lord: 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", Ezekiel (33:7). God addresses Ezekiel as "son of man." In fact, God uses this exact address more than 90 times to remind Ezekiel of his human mortality, frailty, and humble status in contrast to God's infinite, transcendent majesty and power. By repeating the phrase "son of man," God wants to ensure that Ezekiel does not become arrogant but remains humble despite seeing awe-inspiring heavenly visions and receiving powerful revelations directly from God.

God then makes it clear that He has assigned Ezekiel as a watchman and that he must listen to His words and pass the warnings directly to the people. In other words, just as a watchman is responsible for warning the city's inhabitants of enemy threat, Ezekiel is personally responsible for listening to God's word and passing the warning along to others, particularly wicked people. However, God warned Ezekiel that if He declared a wicked person would die and Ezekiel failed to warn the person, the person would still die in his/her sin, but He would hold Ezekiel accountable for that person's blood. If Ezekiel delivered the warning and the wicked person refused to change, that person would die in his/her sin, but Ezekiel would be innocent and save his own life. In short, God made the prophet Ezekiel responsible only for delivering the warning, not forcing people to accept it.

What is the message for us?

Certain passages in the Bible are difficult because they are hard to understand, while others are difficult because they hard to accept. Today's passage about Ezekiel's prophetic task is one of the passages that many find incredibly difficult to accept because it makes one person feel terrifyingly responsible for the moral or spiritual choices of others. Ezekiel's calling demonstrates that being a prophet is a difficult task focused on faithfulness to God's word rather than popular approval, guaranteeing a change or conversion of hearts.
Much like the prophet Ezekiel, through baptism, we Christians are given the dual duty of a spiritual watchman - the duty to stay alert and spot the spiritual dangers and the duty to sound the alarm and warn others. However, before serving as a spiritual watchman over others, a few things are crucial. First and foremost, we must acknowledge that we do not possess superhuman perfection, flawless character, or moral superiority over others but rather experience the same weaknesses, temptations, and limitations as everyone else. Secondly, we must cast aside pride and arrogance and instead embody deep humility and dependence on scripture, prayer, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Thirdly, we must be vigilant and guard our own hearts and minds against the very dangers such as sin, compromise, false teachings, deceptions, or moral decay, that we seek to warn others about. Fourthly, we must maintain a careful balance to avoid falling into the trap of becoming a spy or being intrusive or controlling.
In today's second reading of his letter to the Romans (3:8-10), the Apostle Paul writes that we owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another and that loving our neighbour fulfils the ultimate intent of God's commandments. Paul's exhortation implies that our spiritual watchman ministry must be driven by lifelong love, protective care, and deep responsibility for the well-being of others rather than criticism, judgment, or condemnation of them.
While external, physical threats are often easy to spot and protect against, the internal, spiritual dangers are much more dangerous in the long run. So, if we genuinely love people around us, especially those in our families and communities, our vigilance cannot stop at alerting them to physical dangers or speaking up about minor everyday inconveniences. We must also maintain active vigilance and sound the alarm against moral and spiritual threats even if they refuse to listen, reject the truth, become angry, or mock us.

We must faithfully proclaim the truth of the Gospel while alerting them to modern challenges and lamentable things that are going on, like breakdown of marriage and family, the killing of innocent lives, the loss of Christian values, the rise of secular progressive Christianity, the plague of digital media and pornography and other hidden, systemic, spiritual threats that endanger their character, peace, and relationship with God. However, we must do so with love, courage, and gentleness, ensuring that they are warned while fully respecting their God-given free will to choose their own path. By fulfilling this task faithfully, we can release ourselves from the spiritual liability of their choices and stand blameless before God.

(P) Amen.

God Bless You!

Content Options

to download the audio file Sign In » or Register ».
generate Google Translate Layout ».
share this homily via:

Top of Page

More Homilies this Month

Use the Prev or Next buttons to read or listen to the other homilies of the month.

« Prev Next » Twenty Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year A)