23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A (September 6, 2026)

I was having lunch at my favorite local restaurant and was amused to see a table of six people who were apparently a group of friends. I say “apparently” because they were not talking to each other. All six were on their phones, presumably checking text messages or scrolling through Instagram or TikTok. I had to wonder: Why are they even eating out together? They were physically at the same table, but they were not really present to each other. 

Who are we present to on our journey through life? Who is present to us?
This Sunday and next, the Gospel comes from Matthew 18, sometimes called the Community Discourse. Jesus is speaking to his disciples about something every family, parish, friendship, and community eventually discovers: Living together is not easy.

People disappoint us. People hurt us. We misunderstand each other. We disagree.
So what do we do?

Jesus offers a path toward reconciliation. If someone sins against you, begin by speaking with that person privately. If that fails, bring others along. If reconciliation still cannot be reached, bring the matter before the community.

Notice the persistence. Jesus does not tell us to complain about the person to somebody else. He does not tell us to post about it on social media. He does not tell us simply to walk away. He asks us to keep reaching out—to remain present to each other, even when being present is difficult. 

The First Reading from Ezekiel reminds us that we bear some responsibility for one another. But St. Paul tells us what must lie beneath that responsibility:

Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. . . Love does no evil to the neighbor; hence love is the fulfillment of the law.

Fraternal correction without love can become judgment. Correction rooted in love becomes an invitation to reconciliation.

And then Jesus gives us the beautiful promise that brings everything together:
“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

Jesus is in our midst—in our families, our parishes, our communities, and in those difficult conversations when we choose reconciliation over resentment.

It is possible to sit at the same table and never really encounter each other. Jesus invites us to something deeper: to put down whatever keeps us apart, look into each other’s eyes, listen to each other, forgive each other, and truly be present.

For when we are truly present to one another in love, Christ is present, too.