Readings for Sunday, September 13, 2026
Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 130
Reading 1 Sirach 27:30—28:7
Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight. The vengeful will suffer the Lord’s vengeance, for he remembers their sins in detail. Forgive your neighbour’s injustice; then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven. Could anyone nourish anger against another and expect healing from the Lord? Could anyone refuse mercy to another like himself, can he seek pardon for his own sins? If one who is but flesh cherishes wrath, who will forgive his sins? Remember your last days, set enmity aside; remember death and decay, and cease from sin! Think of the commandments, hate not your neighbour; remember the Most High’s covenant, and overlook faults.
Bless the Lord, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.
He pardons all your iniquities,
heals all your ills.
He redeems your life from destruction,
crowns you with kindness and compassion.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.
He will not always chide,
nor does he keep his wrath forever.
Not according to our sins does he deal with us,
nor does he requite us according to our crimes.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so surpassing is his kindness toward those who fear him.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he put our transgressions from us.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.
Reading 2 Romans 14:7-9
Brothers and sisters: None of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself. For if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord; so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. For this is why Christ died and came to life, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
Gospel Matthew 18:21-35
Peter approached Jesus and asked him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt. At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’ Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan. When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount. He seized hi m and started to choke him, demanding, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ But he refused. Instead, he had the fellow servant put in prison until he paid back the debt. Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole affair. His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?’ Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart."
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///// BIL-MALTI ////////
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Aħfer il-proxxmu dnubietu, u mbagħad dnubietek jinħafrulek.
>>>> Qari tal-Erbgħa u Għoxrin Ħadd taż-Żmien ta’ Matul is-Sena
Qari 1 mill-Ktieb ta’ Bin Sirak 27, 30 – 28, 7
Għadab u qilla, dawn ukoll ta’ min jistmerrhom, u l-bniedem midneb mimli bihom. Min ifittex jitħallas b’idejh, isib ħlasu mingħand il-Mulej, li jifli sewwa dnubietu. Aħfer il-proxxmu dnubietu, u mbagħad titlob u dnubietek jinħafrulek. Bniedem irawwem għadab għal ieħor, u mbagħad se jfittex fejqan mingħand il-Mulej? Minn bniedem bħalu m’għandux ħniena, u mbagħad se jitlob għal dnubietu? Jekk bniedem jibqa’ mgħaddab, min se jpattilu għal dnubietu? Ftakar fl-aħħar ta’ ħajtek, u ieqaf mill-mibegħda; ftakar fit-taħsir u l-mewt, u oqgħod għall-kmandamenti. Ftakar fil-kmandamenti u tobgħodx il-proxxmu; ftakar fil-patt tal-Għoli u agħlaq għajnejk għall-offiża. >>> Il-Kelma tal-Mulej R/. Tifħir lilek Kristu <<<
SALM RESPONSORJALI Salm 102 (103), 1-2.3-4.9-10.11-12
R/. (8): Ħanin u twajjeb il-Mulej
B’qalbi kollha nbierek l-isem qaddis tiegħu.
Bierek, ruħ tiegħi, il-Mulej,
u la tinsiex il-ġid kollu li għamel miegħek. R/.
ifejjaq il-mard tiegħek kollu;
jifdi lil ħajtek mill-qabar;
iħaddnek bit-tjieba u l-ħniena. R/.
u anqas jinkorla għal dejjem.
Ma mexiex magħna skond ma ħaqqhom ħtijietna;
ma ħallasniex skond ma ħaqqha ħżunitna. R/.
Daqskemm huma s-smewwiet ’il fuq mill-art,
hekk hi kbira tjubitu ma’ min jibża’ minnu;
daqs kemm hu mbiegħed il-Lvant mill-Punent,
hekk hu jbiegħed minna ħtijietna. R/.
QARI 2 mill-Ittra ta’ San Pawl lir-Rumani 14, 7-9
Ħuti, ħadd minna ma jgħix għalih innifsu, u ħadd ma jmut għalih innifsu. Jekk ngħixu, ngħixu għall-Mulej; jekk immutu, immutu għall-Mulej. Sew jekk ngħixu, mela, sew jekk immutu, aħna tal-Mulej. Kristu għalhekk miet u rxoxta, biex ikun Sid kemm tal-ħajjin u kemm tal-mejtin. >>> Il-Kelma tal-Mulej R/. Tifħir lilek Kristu <<<
EVANĠELJU Qari skond San Mattew 18, 21-35
F’dak iż-żmien, Pietru resaq lejn Ġesù u qallu: “Mulej, xi kemm-il darba jrid jonqosni ħija biex jiena naħfirlu? Sa seba’ darbiet?”. Wieġbu Ġesù: “Ma ngħidlekx sa seba’ darbiet, imma sa sebgħa u sebgħin darba. Għalhekk is-Saltna tas-Smewwiet nistgħu nxebbhuha ma’ wieħed sultan, li ried jagħmel il-kontijiet mal-qaddejja tiegħu. Kif beda jagħmel dan, ħadulu quddiemu wieħed li kellu jagħtih għaxart elef talent. Billi ma kellux minn fejn irroddhomlu, is-sinjur ordna li jinbiegħu hu, martu, uliedu u kull ma kellu, ħalli b’hekk jitħallas id-dejn. Imma l-qaddej inxteħet quddiemu jitolbu u jgħidlu: “Sinjur, stabar ftit bija, kollox irroddlok”. Is-sinjur ġietu ħasra minn dak il-qaddej, bagħtu u ħafirlu dejnu. Mela dak il-qaddej joħroġ, u jiltaqa’ ma’ wieħed minn sħabu, li kellu jagħtih mitt dinar; qabdu minn għonqu u beda jagħfsu. “Ħallas dejnek,” qallu. Il-qaddej sieħbu nxteħet quddiemu jitolbu bil-ħniena u jgħidlu: “Stabar ftit bija u rroddlok”. Imma dak ma riedx jaf, mar u xeħtu l-ħabs sa ma jrodd kull ma kellu jagħtih. Sħabu l-qaddejja raw il-ġrajja kollha u sewdu qalbhom ħafna; marru għand is-sinjur tagħhom u tarrfulu kull ma kien ġara. Imbagħad is-sinjur bagħat għalih u qallu: “Ja qaddej ħażin, meta jiena ħfirtlek dak id-dejn kollu wara li tlabtni bil-ħniena, ma kienx imissek int ukoll tħenn għal sieħbek kif ħennejt jien għalik?”. U saħan bl-aħrax is-sinjur għalih, u tah f’idejn min jaħqru sa ma jrodd kull ma kellu jagħti. Hekk jagħmel lilkom Missieri li hu fis-Smewwiet jekk ma taħfrux lil xulxin minn qalbkom”. >>> Il-Kelma tal-Mulej R/. Tifħir lilek Kristu <<<
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///////////// REFLECTION
(Fr Tony Kadavil's WEEKLY Eight-minute homily in one page)
"It is unwise to nurse grudges and wise to forgive..."
Introduction:
Our Readings for this Twenty-Fourth Sunday concern forgiving those who wound us and being reconciled with them. All three Readings this Sunday remind us of the path to forgiveness, mercy, and reconciliation and challenge us to walk this ..... the only..... Way to Life.
Scripture lessons summarised:
Sirach, in the First Reading, reminds his listeners that if they don’t heal and forgive and show mercy, they can’t expect to receive mercy from God in return. It is unwise to nurse grudges and wise to forgive because our life span is very short and our eternal destiny is decided by how we forgive, how we work for reconciliation with those who wound us, and how we render humble and loving service to them.
In Sunday’s Psalm, (Ps 103), the Psalmist sings, “The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness.” In the Second Reading, Paul reminds us that we have to forgive others because we belong to Christ who, by his own example in forgiving those who killed him, taught us how we must forgive in our turn.
Since we humans are related to each other as brothers and sisters of Jesus, we are in the family of God, so hatred and bitterness toward anyone should have no place in our hearts. In Sunday’s Gospel, through the parable of the two debtors, Jesus teaches us that there should be no limit to our forgiveness and no conditions attached to our reconciliation.
We represent the greater debtor in the parable because we commit sins every day and, hence, we need God’s forgiveness every day. But we must forgive in order to be forgiven. Jesus explains, after teaching us the prayer Our Father, "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father also will forgive you. “
Life messages:
1) We need to forgive, forget, and be reconciled: In the light of eternity and considering the shortness of our span of life, harbouring old grudges is pointless. The forgiveness that we offer others is the indispensable condition for us to be able to open our hearts to recelve the Love God IS and so, makes it possible for us to receive God’s forgiveness for ourselves and to pray meaningfully: “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”
What God expects from us, He offers us grace to accomplish in us. In this case, He desires to give us the power of His Own limitless forgiviness so that we will be able to overlook each other’s faults willingly, and to keep on loving each other even in the face of insults.
2) We may never forget the hurt we have experienced, but we can, with God’s ongoing grace, choose to forgive and pray for our offenders. As life goes on, and we remember an incident that was hurtful and roused great anger in us, we need to remind ourselves that, with God’s grace, we have already forgiven the one that hurt us. Time does heal memories.
Forgiveness finally changes us from being prisoners of our past to being liberated and at peace with our memories. Forgiveness allows us to move beyond the pain, the resentment, and the anger. When we forgive, we make the choice that heals. We can forgive the offender by wishing him God’s blessings and by offering that individual to God by simply saying, “Help so-and-so and me to mend our relationship.”
When we withhold forgiveness, we remain the victim. When we offer forgiveness, we are doing it also for our own well-being.
////////////////////////////////////// Fr Tony's Homilies © 2026. / https://frtonyshomilies.com ////////
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