Sunday's Readings: Ezekiel 33:7-9 Psalm 95:1-2, 6-9 Romans 13:8-10 Matthew 18:15-20 This Sunday's readings and Gospel teach us that we are called to love our neighbor even to the point of providing fraternal correction. Certainly, pointing out someone's faults is not an easy task, but if it is done out of love, it is done for the right reason as St. Paul writes in the second reading from Romans, "'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' Love does no evil to the neighbor; hence, love is the fulfillment of the law." In the first Reading from Ezekiel, the Lord tells Ezekiel that He will give him warnings to share with His people, and Ezekiel must warn his fellow Israelites. Ezekiel is not responsible for whether anyone repents at his warnings, but the Lord makes it clear that he is responsible for warning people who have gone astray. The Gospel Reading takes into account the background of the reading from Ezekiel. In the Gospel reading from St. Matthew's Gospel, Jesus talks to his disciples, who are the first bishops, about dealing with a brother or sister who has caused offense. In His teaching, the Lord confers upon the disciples, the power of binding and loosing which is similar to the authority He entrusted to Peter. However, the power which Jesus gives to all of the disciples does not extend to the authority of the keys which Christ gave to Peter alone.

Here are a few commentaries on these readings:

• St. Charles Borromeo Lectionary Site (PDF)


• To Win Them Back (Also available to be heard as an MP3) from St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology


• Looking for Trouble! (Also available to be heard as an MP3) from The Crossroads Initiative