Twenty-Third Sunday of Ordinary Time

September 6, 2026

Matthew 18:15-20

“For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Today, most of us think of Christ being present in the tabernacle, or in the adoration chapel. There, we think, is Jesus. And, of course, that is true. But Jesus is reminding us of something else today. There is a reason he is present in the tabernacle, and that is us, the members of his church. 

We often are wrapped in devotion when we receive communion which is the Body of Christ present inside us. We are caught up in the moment when we are in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle or in the monstrance; and this is very appropriate indeed. But, today Jesus is reminding us of something else: He is right in the middle of us when we are gathered together in his name, no matter where we are. And this is even more true, when we are gather as Church in our “church building.” Pope Pius XII wrote an Encyclical named the Mystical Body; by this he was referring to the people of Christ. It is interesting to note that in apostolic times, the term ‘Mystical Body,’ referred to the sacrament, but “Body of Christ” referred to the assembled faithful.

Wait, you say: How can I see Christ in the person sitting next to me in the pew? Maybe it is a family member that I know so well; and I know that he or she is not Christ! It may be a neighbor for whom I bear a grudge. It may be a stranger who looks a little shabby to me, and may even smells a little. You, and Jesus too, have got to be kidding me!

This reminds me of chapter 72 in the Rule of St. Benedict which says: “...the good zeal which monks must foster with fervent love [is this:] They should each try to be the first to show respect to the other, supporting with the greatest patience one another’s weaknesses of body or of behavior, and earnestly competing to obey one another.” St. Benedict then points out that each one should pursue, not what is better for him or her self, but what is best for another. This has always impressed me as explaining exactly what Jesus is saying in the text. This is what is expected of any Christian, not only a monk or nun.

It is much easier to find Jesus among us if we who are gathered together have a smile on our face, a kind word on our lips, and the love which Christ has in our hearts. If we could present ourselves in this way, it is possible, maybe even easy, for us to see Jesus present in our midst. He makes his presence felt through love in the sense of loving concern, and we experience him in our love for one another.

Of course, this is very difficult to do except in a very superficial way, unless we make some attempt to know the people around us. In fact, St. Paul reminds us today that our very identity as a Christian is that we love one another. We are reminded that it is this very quality of loving one another that made people notice and become attracted to Christianity in the first place. It is high time that we bring ourselves back to this best reality. We love one another and indeed are responsible for each other because Christ is in each one of us. That is our call this Sunday: to recover our sense of being a loving community by actually getting to know each other and realize that each of us is part of what makes Christ present in our midst each time we are gathered together. This is nothing less that putting on Christ.

Sometimes coming to seeing Christ in one another takes time. The following story gives us some insight: One summer evening after a festal hour of singing and dancing the whole tribe sat around the chieftain. He began to speak to them: “If you have quarreled with a brother and you have decided to kill him,” as he spoke he looked directly at the one of the group, “first sit down, fill your pipe and smoke it. When you have finished smoking you will realize that death is too severe a punishment for your enemy for the fault he has committed, and you decide to give a good whipping instead. Then you fill your pipe a second time and smoke it to the bottom. By then you feel that the lashes will be too much and instead some simple words of reproof would be sufficient. Then when the third time you have filled your pipe and smoked it to the finish, you will be better convinced that the better thing to do is going to that brother and embrace him.”

Fr. John Tran