TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME – September 6, 2026

Please, check out the Hungarian section (link at the bottom) as well, as some Hungarian related news or information may be found only there.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM: If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

TODAY’S MASS INTENTIONS:

9:00 AM (at St. Elizabeth): Joseph & Barbara Gydosh

11:00 AM (at German Central Park): Mária Strada Friedrich, by the Family

MASS SCHEDULE & INTENTIONS FOR ST. EMERIC CHURCH:

MASS SCHEDULE & INTENTIONS FOR ST. ELIZABETH SHRINE:

FROM THE DESK OF FR. BONA: (1) Today’s gospel passage provides a structured approach to reconciliation and community discipline. Jesus outlines a gradual process for addressing sin: first through private dialogue, then involving witnesses, and finally bringing the matter to the church community – and even applying excommunication (being severed from the community) if necessary. The goal of correction is always restoration, not necessarily punishment. In fact, the penalty of excommunication belongs to a category of punishments that are called medicinal. Sin and evil is a poison and we have responsibility to protect the innocent from it and correcting others to save them from spiritual harm. Silence in the face of wrongdoing is considered a failure of this responsibility.

You may have heard of the traditional Christian axiom: “Love the sinner and hate the sin.” The exact phrase itself is not found in the Bible, but the principle of it is present in both the Old and New Testament. For example, Proverbs 8:13: “[God speaks:] The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil; Pride, arrogance, the evil way, and the perverse mouth I hate;” and in Romans 12:9: “Let love be sincere; hate what is evil, hold on to what is good.” In 424 AD, in one of his letters, Saint Augustine used the expression: “Cum dilectione hominum et odio vitiorum” which roughly translates to “with love for mankind and hatred of sins.” This sentiment was overtime formulated in the above-mentioned axiom and was even used by Mohandas Gandhi in his 1929 autobiography (“hate the sin and not the sinner”).

Unfortunately, a considerable number of people today turn away from this principle and even fight against it, as if it were a harmful standard. Many people to justify their evil actions claim that by criticizing their actions we judge and condemn them as persons. This rationalization is only a ploy to make others silent so that they would not be challenged and thus have to confront their own hearts and ultimately change their ways. But, this is what the devil wants. He wants us, Christians to be silent so that his evil ways would spread in the world even more and thus give him the chance to drag even more people into Hell. He wants the world to forget that actions have consequences. This idea that my actions are somehow part of my own being is devilish, because it automatically precludes one from receiving the gift of salvation (it blocks true repentance on the part of the sinner). Jesus’ good news is that we can be separated from our sins. We can and need to convert, to repent all the time.

In sum, the ancient Christian axiom helps us to keep things in balance. We do not judge anyone, but, with Jesus’s teachings, we can say, and even have a duty to witness to, which actions are evil and which are good, because they have eternal consequences.

(2) No 11AM Mass today in the church (we are holding it at the German Central Park).

(3) On September 7, at St. Emeric we will celebrate a solemnity. I am not referring to Labor Day, but to the anniversary of the consecration of our present church building. It was on September 7, 1925 (coincidently it was also a Labor Day) that the current church building was solemnly blessed by Archbishop Joseph Schrembs, the Bishop of Cleveland at that time. In the Msgr. Boehm’s Room there is a photograph from that day showing the many people who were present. Because it was also a Labor Day, you will see that many people have a US flag in their hands. In addition, the date on the photograph is incorrect. We have confirmed through other sources that the consecration happened on September 7^th and not on the 6^th.

LAST WEEKEND’S COLLECTION: Sunday Collection: $811; Renovation: $40; Maintenance: $20; Boiler repair: $170; Organ repair: $150; in loving memory of Ottó Hunyadi: $100; in loving memory of deceased members of the Keresztesy and Körössy Families: $25. May God reward your generosity in supporting the church. Thank you for sending in your donations by mail or using our website https://stemeric.com/donations/.

PLEASE PRAY FOR THE SICK, especially for Bev Kimar, Teréz Kalász, Lajos Boday, Márta Takács, Kathy Szabó, Alex Szaday, Virginia Kachmar, Margaret Falk, Mária Hokky, Éva Fricke, Balázs Bedy, Deven Poroszlai and Cathe Toth.

PLEASE PRAY FOR THE DECEASED: Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord; and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.

NO ONLINE LIVESTREAMING THIS SUNDAY; the 11:00 AM Mass is being held at the German Central Park.

LET US PRAY THREE HAIL MARYS FOR OUR PARISH EVERY DAY!

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