Sunday Reflection with Canon Robin Gibbons: September 6 2026

The reconciliation of Jacob and Esau by Peter Paul Rubens

Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 127

One of my abiding favourite memories of my years in the monastery is still the Office of Vigils in the early morning, and psalm 94/5 which was the Invitatory psalm, the call to worship as it were. This Sunday it is our responsorial psalm and not only worth praying through carefully but taking time to reflect on its words. Though it has an easy start the later references to Meribah and Massah mean that one has to delve into biblical history to understand the full nuance of the psalm. Put into easier terms we discover that twice the Psalm calls us to praise and worship God (vv:1-2, 6), both as the king over all creatures (vv:3-5) and shepherd of the flock (vv:7a, 7b). The last strophe warns us all to be more faithful than were our ancestors in faith, on their journey to the promised land (vv:7c-11). It is a wonderful invitation to praise God as an opening to our day!

However this psalm provides us with a reminder that our Christian vocation is a call to live out what we pray. In our readings this Sunday it is that underlying responsibility we have to be forgiving towards others( and ourselves) and this because we 'try (and that IS the word) to deepen our love of God. This we find in our relationship with, and following of, Chris-and when we fall the ability to ask forgiveness as we actively exercise the ministry of reconciliation. A big task! Paul in the letter to the Romans, hands us the timeless reminder of what it is that Christ tells us is the sum of al the Torah commandments: '…and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this saying, [namely] "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."Love does no evil to the neighbour; hence, love is the fulfillment of the law.' (Rm 13: 9,10) This makes sense of that hint in our psalm that we are to be more faithful to the Lord and the commands of the Most High, by distilling everything to that clear pinpoint of Divine illumination, that love holds the key to our vocation.

Yet love does not exist in a vacuum, we are called to exercise this love in all the fullness of its meaning-in the concrete situations of human existence. This will involve the task of watchfulness and care in terms of guardianship for others, Ezekiel reminds us of this in our first reading:'You, son of man-I have appointed you as a sentinel (watchman) for the house of Israel; when you hear a word from my mouth, you must warn them for me'.(Ezekiel 33:7) this is elaborated upon in the text from the Gospel where Jesus gives us a gentle model for correction of faults and failings, one rather less aggressive than many methods that have been used to draw us back from the wrong direction. It follows a wise practice of care, being proportionate about calling out-whistleblowing.

In its initial phases Jesus asks us to be lovingly generous in opening out the safe space for forgiveness between two people, and enjoining on them confidentiality. If this doesn't work, another stage is to involve others in the process, but still with that guardianship quality of respect and an environment that allows for truthful dialogue established not on hearsay or gossip but on facts. The key word in English is 'listen',for in the powerful, loving, ministry of reconciling persons and resolving sin so that true forgiveness may be given and accepted, it is crucial that a listening atmosphere is created, and it applies, as Jesus points out, to individual meetings as well as large assemblies:'If he/she does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that 'every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses.'If he/she refuses to listen to them, tell the church.* If he refuses to listen even to the church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector'.(Mt 33:16,17)

There are four main things to take away from our Scriptures: i) Love forms the basis for all that we do as Christians. ii) Listening to God's word, our own conscience and others stories and explanations is essential to the ministry of reconciliation and forgiveness. iii) Facts, not gossip, innuendo or supposition, are the evidence necessary for a dialogue of truth and iv) the echo of the psalm urging us to be more faithful to God, is necessary for the humility of a merciful and generous heart.

So "Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;
let us acclaim the rock of our salvation'.

Lectio

Psalm 94/95

Revised Grail Text

Come, let us ring out our joy to the LORD;
hail the rock who saves us.
Let us come before God giving thanks;
with songs of praise, let us hail the Lord.

O come; let us bow and bend low.
Let us kneel before the LORD who made us,
for the Lord is our God,
and we the people of the heavenly pasture,
the flock led by the almighty hand.

O that today you would heed God's voice!
"Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as on that day at Massah in the desert
when your ancestors put me to the test;
when they tried me, though they saw my work."

The wisdom of Benedict in trying to reconcile an excommunicated monastic

Rule of St Benedict

Chapter 27. the abbot/abbesses concern for the excommunicated

The abbot/abbess must exercise the utmost care and concern for wayward brothers/sisters, because it is not the healthy who need a physician, but the sick (Matt 9:12). Therefore, they ought to use every skill of a wise physician and send in senpectae, that is, mature and wise brothers/sisters who, under the cloak of secrecy, may support the wavering brother/sister, urge them to be humble as a way of making satisfaction, and console them lest they be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow (2 Cor 2:7). Rather, as the Apostle also says: Let love for them be reaffirmed (2 Cor 2:8) and let all pray for them.

It is the abbot/abbesses responsibility to have great concern and to act with all speed, discernment and diligence in order not to lose any of the sheep entrusted to them. They should realize that they have undertaken care of the sick, not tyranny over the healthy.

Let them also fear the threat of the Prophet in which God says: What you saw to be fat you claimed for yourselves, and what was weak you cast aside (Ezek 34:3-4). They are to imitate the loving example of the Good Shepherd who left the ninety-nine sheep in the mountains and went in search of the one sheep that had strayed. So great was his compassion for its weakness that he mercifully placed it on his sacred shoulders and so carried it back to the flock (Luke 15:5).