September 6 th, 2026 (23 Sunday Ordinary A)

Dear brothers and sisters, the word we receive this Sunday is about love. As St. Paul says, “owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another, for the one who loves the other has fulfilled the law.” To love the other, this is what Christ has done for each one of us to the point of dying for us and for our sins, Christ has fulfilled the law on the cross giving his life for you and I. Also correcting is a sign of love for the brother. This is what the prophets also do. The Christian is like a watchman for the brother and a prophet that wants to save our life from evil. The true prophet calls us and warns us to come back to God. Like if there is a fire or some immediate danger he shouts and gives the alarm and the warning to go to safety. If we have true love for the other, we will also care for the other and be alert and speak to him when we see some danger. God has done this for us, because he loves us so much that he always sends us prophets, his word and the church to take us out of death and shows us how to find salvation and life. We see that the opposite of this love is indifference. The world is totally indifferent to the sufferings of others. It is concerned only with oneself. To save one’s own skin this is what truly matters. No one in the world can give his life for someone else. When God visits Cain after he had killed Abel asking him: “where is your brother?” Cain answers God “am I my brother’s keeper?”. This is the selfishness and indifference the world has towards the other, the effect of sin living in us. Christ today would like to destroy and take away from us this radical selfishness and indifference and to give us his spirit, like Jesus Christ on the cross, of total love for the other. The Christian can love. If you have Christ living in you, you can give your life out of love. God has taken away your selfishness. Now you can care for the other. This is to truly love. This is the Church, the manifestation of this love, division and indifference are overcome. It is the place where communion is born. Where two or three are gathered in my name and in this spirit there I am also. This is what Christ does for us today.

Peace, Fr. Nicholas