09/06/2026
Letter from Father Dan on the 23rd Sunday In Ordinary Time:
"My Brothers and Sisters,
This weekend, as our nation observes Labor Day, the Gospel gives us a lesson about something that touches every part of our lives: how we live with one another.
Jesus tells his disciples that when someone has wronged us, our first response should not be gossip, retaliation or simply walking away. Instead, he says, “go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.” The purpose is not to prove who is right. Jesus says the goal is to “win over your brother.”
The Gospel is about reconciliation, but it is also about responsibility. We belong to one another. When a relationship is broken, Jesus asks us to make an effort to repair it. When someone is headed in the wrong direction, we should care enough to speak. And when we cannot resolve something alone, we turn to the community for help.
Labor Day gives us another way to think about what that means.
Catholic social teaching has long reminded us that work is about more than earning a paycheck. Work has dignity because the person doing the work has dignity. The Church has consistently called for just wages, safe working conditions, reasonable rest and the ability of workers to provide for themselves and their families.
For many of us, Labor Day may mean a picnic, a final summer gathering or simply an extra day away from work. But it can also invite us to notice the people whose work makes our daily lives possible: teachers and nurses, farmers and factory workers, first responders, caregivers, restaurant employees, construction workers, small-business owners and countless others whose labor often goes unseen.
As we reflect this Labor Day weekend on the dignity of work and on our responsibility for one another, we might also look ahead to a special moment for the Church later this month. On September 24, Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen will be beatified in St. Louis.
For those who may not remember him, Archbishop Sheen was one of the great Catholic voices of the 20th century. Long before podcasts, social media and livestreamed Masses, he used radio and television to bring the Gospel into millions of homes. I remember watching his television program, Life Is Worth Living, on my parents' 10-inch black and white Admiral TV. Bishop Sheen spoke about faith but also about the concerns of everyday life–family, work, suffering, justice and the choices we make in living with one another.
I think that is part of what makes his witness especially appropriate for us this weekend. Bishop Sheen understood that faith cannot remain confined to Sunday morning. It must shape the way we work, the way we treat people, the way we speak to one another and the way we respond when relationships become difficult.
That brings us back to Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel. Christian community asks something of us. We are responsible for one another–not to condemn one another, but to seek reconciliation, justice and peace. And Christ promises that when we make that effort together, he is there among us: “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
The readings this weekend remind us that Christian faith is never entirely private. Loving our neighbor requires us to pay attention to one another–in our homes, workplaces, parish and community. It asks us to notice when someone is struggling, to speak when something is wrong and to work toward reconciliation rather than division.
Whether we gather around an altar, a dinner table, a workplace or a backyard picnic this Labor Day weekend, Christ is present when we come together in love, concern and respect for one another.
Perhaps that is the simplest lesson of all: we were never meant to make our way through this world alone.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Father Dan"
