Homily for the Twenty-Third Sunday of Ordinary Time

This homily was shared by Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C. on September 6, 2026, the Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, at a Mass hosted by the Notre Dame Alumni Association at Nativity of Our Lord Parish in Green Bay, Wisconsin. This liturgy took place prior to Notre Dame’s annual “Shamrock Series” football game versus the University of Wisconsin at Lambeau Field.

Many of you alumni have heard of a little book called du Lac. It is a guide to student life, the handbook for Notre Dame students that sets forth our community standards. I hope mentioning du Lac is not too traumatic for some of you out there. But du Lac is grounded in our Catholic mission and it makes clear what we owe each other as members of the Notre Dame community, how we are to treat one another, and how the university is to address violations of our community standards. The focus is on ensuring that we have a community where we respect each other's dignity.

As essential as it is to hold each other accountable to the standards of our community, when members of our community fail to live up to those standards and respect the dignity of others, the goal is not to push them further away from the community and write them off, but instead to find a way to keep them in the community as members in good standing. Every member of our community, each and every member of our community, is imbued by God with dignity. Everyone has immeasurable value and no one, absolutely no one, is dispensable.

In this Mass, we celebrate the great unconditional love of God and the length to which God has gone to make it perfectly clear that no one, absolutely no one, is dispensable. Everyone, absolutely everyone, is of immeasurable value. And because God never gives up on us, we are never to give up on ourselves or on one another.

In the first reading, we hear the Lord instruct the prophet Ezekiel, essentially reminding him that while he is called to speak hard truths that challenge God's people, ultimately his task is not to condemn them. Quite the opposite. His job is not to drive them further away from God, but to bring them back. Ezekiel should recognize that his fate is linked to their fate. In other words, he and they are in it together.

In the Gospel, Jesus teaches his disciples about the importance of addressing problems directly, honestly, and in ways that make reconciliation possible. He tells his disciples to begin by speaking with a person with whom there is a dispute directly. If that person does not listen, then bring a few others into it. And if that doesn't work, bring the whole community into it. And if that doesn't work, then you can say that you've tried, and obviously the other party needs to have at least some intention to settle the dispute and to reconcile.

It's important to consider this teaching of Jesus in the context of his ministry, his whole life. The code for violations of community standards and personal affronts at the time of Jesus was very unforgiving. Someone wrongs you or the community and you give that person the silent treatment. You shut them out. You strike back. You write that person off. That person is dead to you. It was essentially, one strike and you're out. This is why tax collectors and those considered sinners were shunned, ostracized, cast out.

And this is what people were taught to do by many of the religious leaders of the day: Pharisees, scribes, scholars of the law. The way you keep a community pure is to cast out anyone who violates the standards of that community. It's understandable in a way. Yet, these sinners and law-breakers who were cast out were the very people Jesus engages and associates with. He spends time with them. He eats meals with them—almost unthinkable. He is not about to give up on them. He seeks to bring them back into the community, and he does. He gives them a new lease on life.

We are no strangers to disputes whether in our families, in our communities, in our church, or in our country. The question is, how do we handle them? Do we let anger and pride get the best of us? Do we seek to understand or do we rush to judgment? Are we quick to condemn? If we are quick to condemn or to give someone the silent treatment, how has that worked for us other than to give us some temporary satisfaction? Has it accomplished anything?

Upholding community standards is crucially important and it is difficult to do at times. It is incredibly important that we hold one another accountable. I'm not going to dispense with du Lac. It will continue to exist. But when someone violates standards, whether in our families, in our communities, in our church or country, do we end up pushing them further away, making any possible restoration and reconciliation impossible? Or do we leave lines of communication open and find ways of engaging and creating avenues for restoration and reconciliation? I don't know about you, but I have been the beneficiary of grace, a lot of grace, and I've needed it. And perhaps you have, too. If you're like me, there are people who have refused to write you off despite what you have done or failed to do. They refused to define you based on some mistake or failing of yours. We all know that we are called to return that grace. But sometimes that is easier said than done. Especially if we have been hurt or we have hurt someone else.

No one said it would be easy to follow Jesus. But grace is extended to us time and time again, and in a special way in this Eucharist and in every Eucharist we celebrate. It's an invitation to be who God calls us to be and to do the difficult things that love requires: to speak the words and engage in the actions that lead to peace and integrity in our families, in our communities, in our country, in our church, and in our world. As members of the Notre Dame family and as members of the body of Christ, may we always be open to this abundant grace.

May God bless you all.