09/04/2026
Dear Friends,
This weekend, we celebrate the Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. Our readings this weekend touch upon a difficult call in the Christian life, that is, speaking the Truth in love. There is a great difference between judging another person and loving another person enough to speak the truth. The readings remind us that sincere Christian charity sometimes requires us to do something that is difficult: to help another person recognize when he or she has gone astray. It is not always easy to know when to speak, what to say, or how to say it. Yet the Lord makes clear that we do have a responsibility for one another.
In the first reading, God appoints the prophet Ezekiel as a “watchman” for the house of Israel. A watchman stands at his post and warns others when danger approaches. Ezekiel is told that if he sees someone heading toward danger and remains silent, he bears a responsibility for that silence. His task is not to condemn, but to warn; not to punish, but to help save.
Jesus gives us a similar teaching in the Gospel. If someone sins against us, He does not tell us to complain about that person to others, to humiliate him, or to seek revenge. Instead, He says, “Go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.” There is a profound wisdom in those words. Christian correction begins privately, personally, and charitably. Its purpose is not to prove that we are right, but to win back a brother or sister who has gone astray.
That requires humility, because before we presume to correct another, we must be willing to examine our own hearts. We are all sinners in need of God’s mercy. We have all made mistakes, spoken words we regret, and failed to love as Christ commands. The truth must therefore always be spoken with charity, remembering that the person standing before us is someone for whom Christ died.
This is why St. Paul tells us in the second reading that “love is the fulfillment of the law.” True love does not mean simply avoiding conflict or telling people what they want to hear. Sometimes love must speak a difficult truth. But it speaks that truth because it seeks the good of the other person, not because it seeks to win an argument or establish superiority. Our families, our friendships, and our parish community all need this kind of love and charity. We are called to be people who seek reconciliation rather than division, understanding rather than suspicion, and mercy rather than condemnation.
The goal for Christians regarding fraternal correction is always the same: that what has been wounded may be healed, what has been divided may be reconciled, and what has been lost may be restored. For where charity and reconciliation are found, Christ Himself is present among us.
As we embark upon this new month of September, we welcome back our faculty and students to Assumption Academy as they begin another academic year this coming week. We welcome in a special way our new Principal, Ms. Jennifer Peacock as well as the Faculty & Staff. We look forward to a great year of fun and learning with our young students. Please keep all of them in your prayers as we begin this academic year.
We also warmly welcome back all of our PREP students. I am grateful to Sr. Rita Marian for her hard work and dedication to our PREP program as well as all of our Catechists and volunteers. Please keep them and our children in your prayers.
As we celebrate this Labor Day Weekend I wish continued blessings upon all of you and your families and I thank you wholeheartedly for your continued prayerful and financial support of our parish.
PRAYER FOR LABOR DAY
Gracious Father, on this Labor Day weekend, when we pause from our usual labors, we give You thanks for the gift and dignity of human work. Through our labor, You allow us to use the gifts You have given us to serve one another and to build up our families, our communities, and our world.
We pray for all who labor in factories and offices, in classrooms and hospitals, in businesses and professions, and in the daily work of caring for family and home. May every honest labor be valued and respected, and may workers receive the justice, dignity, and fair compensation they deserve.
We remember especially those who are unemployed or struggling to provide for their families. Grant them hope and opportunity, and guide those whose decisions affect the lives of working people.
We give thanks, too, for those who have retired from their years of employment. May they know that their vocation to love and serve continues through their wisdom, their prayers, their presence, and their deeds of charity.
Teach us, Lord, to work faithfully when it is time to work and to rest gratefully when it is time to rest. May our working and our resting alike give praise to You, until our earthly labors are complete and we enter with all our departed loved ones into the eternal rest of Your Kingdom.
Love and prayers, Fr. Carey
