Sunday Readings for Sept. 5 and 6, Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Jack Treloar | For On Mission
In the short reading from the Letter to the Romans, St. Paul makes explicit some aspects of the second of the two great commandments. He points out that after the love of God, our only duty is to love one another. Such love is the fulfillment of the law. He recites some of the latter set of commandments dealing with our treatment of our neighbor and concludes his exhortation by saying, “Love does no evil to the neighbor; hence, love is the fulfillment of the law” (Rom 13:10).
One might think that doing no evil to the neighbor is limited to refraining from physical harm. Refraining from physical harm, however, is only part of the picture. Most of us refrain from this kind of harm. But we do actual harm to our neighbor when we resort to malicious speech about a person. This speech may actually be more damaging than the physical harm we might do. When we lie or gossip about another person, we are not loving our neighbor as ourselves. When we call a person a “pig,” “a low IQ individual,” or denigrate them in any way with the spoken word, we are not fulfilling the law. We are not showing the kind of love St. Paul wants all followers of Christ to show to our neighbor. Consequently, we are not observing the commandments listed by St. Paul that exhort care and concern for our neighbor.
In the Gospel reading, Jesus discusses how his followers should deal with conflict among themselves. He shows us a way of resolving conflict that demonstrates love of neighbor. He says that we should first try to settle the dispute by talking with each other. If that does not work, we involve others who can offer a neutral standpoint. All of this discussion should be done in the context of prayer.
In both readings, we have methods for dealing with others in a loving manner rather than one that claims, “I am right, and you are wrong.” This approach to disputes fulfills the law. True fulfillment of the law is always embedded in our love for the other person. The love spoken of by St. Paul is a love that gives of itself for the welfare of others. If we take St. Paul’s exhortation to love of neighbor and view this love as fulfillment of those commandments he mentions in this section of Romans, we will be true followers of Christ.
This love means we must give of ourselves and place our attention on our neighbor. Each commandment he mentions can be phrased positively to capture his understanding of love of neighbor: “Honor your spouse with fidelity to your marriage vows.” “Value the life of all others.” “Respect the property of others.” And finally, “Be content with your own possessions and relationships.”
The readings for Sunday, Sept. 6, can be found at Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time | USCCB.