Reading 1: Sirach 27:30—28:7

Reading 2: Romans 14:7-9

Gospel: Matthew 18:21-35

Catholic homilies and Mass readings from St. Anne Roman Catholic Parish in Gilbert, Arizona

Catholic homilies and Mass readings from St. Anne Roman Catholic Parish in Gilbert, Arizona

Catholic homilies and Mass readings from St. Anne Roman Catholic Parish in Gilbert, Arizona

Catholic homilies and Mass readings from St. Anne Roman Catholic Parish in Gilbert, Arizona

Reading 1: Ezekiel 33:7-9

Reading 2: Romans 13:8-10

Gospel: Matthew 18:15-20

Catholic homilies and Mass readings from St. Anne Roman Catholic Parish in Gilbert, Arizona

Catholic homilies and Mass readings from St. Anne Roman Catholic Parish in Gilbert, Arizona

Catholic homilies and Mass readings from St. Anne Roman Catholic Parish in Gilbert, Arizona

In the long version of today's homily we pay special attention to today's second reading from the letter of Saint Paul to the Romans. In it Saint Paul has “urged” us to offer our bodies “as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.”

In a special way, this dedication of the body, when made out of love, translates into the virtue of chastity; and the more attacked by the world and the social media this virtue is, the more beautiful and luminous it seems to shine.

Saint Paul not only refers to this virtue, chastity, but also expects and requires it. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." The pure in heart will see God in heaven and they already see him in his creation.

Those who have a stained heart do not see God in people, but instead see people as objects for their personal satisfaction. By acting in this way, we are offending the dignity of others, because we do not see the mystery of the person as a whole, or our own dignity, because the human person has been created to love and not to selfishly use others.

Let us ask God to help us all to live chastely with humility and according to the vocation, age and condition of each one of us. May our bodies truly be a pleasing offering to God, as Saint Paul urges us. Let us not be discouraged by failures, but neither must we ever become accustomed to sins against chastity. Let us ask the Lord to create in us a pure heart. In this way, our capacity to love will expand into infinity because we will love as Christ loves. He offered his body on the cross as a sacrifice pleasing to God and therefore he is the best model of chastity and love that endures. May the Virgin Mary, who invigorates purity and restores it to those who have lost it, grant us all the strength to live, cherish, defend, promote and cultivate chastity in ourselves, in our children, and in everyone we meet.