Put Away the Old Self: 23rd Sunday Year A Homily Sermon

by Fr. Tommy Lane

A number of passages in Sacred Scripture encourage us to become better versions of ourselves. For example, Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians writes:

You should put away the old self of your former way of life, corrupted through deceitful desires, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self, created in God’s way in righteousness and holiness of truth. (Eph 4:22-24)

In his letter to the Philippians, Paul writes:

This is my prayer: that your love may increase ever more and more in knowledge and every kind of perception, to discern what is of value, so that you may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God. (Phil 1:9-11)

Yet, becoming better versions of ourselves can be a struggle. Paul, in his letter to the Romans, admitted his own internal struggle to become a better version of himself:

I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. So, then, I discover the principle that when I want to do right, evil is at hand. (Rom 7:19-21)

At least Paul had enough self-perception to know that, and he had the humility to admit it. But he also had hope for the future:

Miserable one that I am! Who will deliver me from this mortal body? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom 7:24-25)

But what if someone doesn’t have the self-perception to know that personal growth is necessary? The Gospel today (Matt 18:15-20) urges fraternal correction in such a situation. Obviously, for fraternal correction to succeed and help us become a better version of ourselves, it should be constructive, given in a context of love, clearly wanting to help or heal, upholding the dignity of the person, not giving a judgment on the person but on a behavior, and trying to give motivation.

When we are at the receiving end of such fraternal correction, how do we react? Some of us may try to justify our actions so we could become defensive or try to explain the issue away. That is why whether it be in a sports organization, or in a workplace, in a company, a firm, or any other setting, to try to ensure that the person will receive the advice offered, there are discussions among colleagues to figure out who would be the best person to offer the advice to increase the possibility of it being received and how the advice should be articulated to increase the likelihood of it being accepted. When people go to such lengths before offering advice, it just goes to show that at least some people find it difficult to accept fraternal correction. So, humility is necessary to accept the help offered. Obviously, when someone is humble and the advice is truly given in a spirit of love trying to help, an appropriate response would be something like, “Thank you for bringing this to my attention” or “I appreciate you looking out for me.”

Something that would be unhelpful in such situations would be gossip and Pope Francis frequently complained about gossip. Commenting on today’s Gospel three years ago, he said during his Angelus Address from the window overlooking St. Peter’s Square: “Unfortunately, however, often the first thing that is created around those who make a mistake is gossip, in which everyone comes to know the mistake, complete with details . . . This is not right, brothers and sisters; this does not please God. I never tire of repeating that gossip is a plague on the life of people and communities, because it leads to division, it leads to suffering, it leads to scandal; it never helps improve, it never helps grow.” (Sunday, September 10, 2023)

Obviously, whether giving or receiving fraternal correction, prayer is a great foundation and help because to pray is to be humble because prayer is admitting that we are not the center of the universe and instead life revolves around God rather than ourselves. When considering all these issues before God, we realize the wisdom of what Paul wrote to the Romans in our second reading (Rom 13:8-10) that all the commandments can be summed up in love of neighbor.

I conclude by once again recalling what Paul wrote:

This homily was delivered in a parish in Ireland.

More Homilies for the Twenty-Third Sunday Year A

We belong to God 2023

Brotherly correction and love of neighbor 2008

Related to homily above: The Blind Spot 2023

The Pharisee with the dulled conscience 2025

Second Reading Related: Homilies on loving our neighbor as ourselves

stories about reconciliation helping others seeing God in others