For Sunday the 1st of October, 2023 (Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost)
As we gather for worship this Sunday God’s word focuses our attention on repentance. Through Ezekiel the LORD makes clear that the matter of turning away from sin has truly life and death consequences. In the Gospel reading Jesus warns the pious Jews of his day that tax collectors and prostitutes—because they believed the Baptizer’s preaching of repentance—have entered the kingdom while they remain excluded. We hear the call, “Cast away from [yourselves] all the transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit!” (Ezekiel 18:31). Characteristics of this new spirit are described by St. Paul: “being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. . . . in humility [counting] others more significant than [yourself]” (Philippians 2:2-3). God grant us to sincerely repent and live!
