Catholic Homilies for 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)
Ezekiel 33:7-9, Romans 13:8-10, and Matthew 18:15-20 Over 40 homilies each week from Catholic clergy, including Fr. Mike Schmitz, Bishop Robert Barron, Fr. Tony Kadavil and others.

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September 6, 2026

⭐⭐⭐ The Cry of the Himalayas

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AUGUST 26, 2026

The Cry of the Himalayas:
A Global Warning

High above the plains, across the jagged spine of Nepal and the high plateau of Tibet, lies what glaciologists call the “Third Pole.” It is the world’s greatest repository of frozen freshwater outside the polar caps, feeding ten major river systems that sustain nearly two billion people.

Yet today, these majestic ridges, long revered as sacred dwelling places of peace, are weeping. Glaciers are retreating at unprecedented speeds, carving out precarious glacial lakes that threaten to burst in devastating flash floods, burying mountain villages under torrents of mud and stone. Downstream, erratic monsoons wash away fragile terraced farms, while dry seasons leave mountain wells parched.

This Himalayan crisis is not a distant, localized ecological misfortune; it is a profound moral indictment. It is the cry of creation groaning under human indifference.

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The Watchman's Mandate

In today’s reading from the prophet Ezekiel, the Lord speaks with striking urgency: “Son of man, I have appointed watchman for the house of Israel; when you hear me say anything, you shall warn them for me.”

In ancient times, the watchman stood on the highest parapet of the city walls, peering into the dark horizon. While the inhabitants slept, farmed, and traded, the watchman’s duty was singular: scan for approaching peril and sound the horn. If the watchman saw the sword coming and held his peace, God warned, the blood of the fallen would be required at his hand.

Eight years ago, Pope Francis stood on the modern world's moral parapet and sounded that trumpet in Laudato si’, an urgent watchman’s call renewed and sharpened in Laudate Deum. Francis reminded us that we cannot separate the cry of the earth from the cry of the poor. When we destabilize the atmosphere through unbridled consumption and technocratic hubris, the swords of calamity strike first and hardest against the most vulnerable.

The Innocence of the Afflicted

Consider the villagers of the Khumbu Valley in Nepal or the nomadic pastoralists on the Tibetan Plateau. They contributed virtually nothing to the greenhouse gases warming the globe. Their carbon footprint is infinitesimal compared to our energy-intensive, disposable lifestyles. Yet it is their homes that are swept away by glacial lake outburst floods. It is their ancestral lands that are drying into dust.

Ezekiel’s warning dismantles the dangerous illusion of neutrality. The passage makes it clear: silence is complicity. When systemic destruction threatens life and we choose comfortable denial, we share in the guilt of the harm that follows. The wicked way from which we must turn is not merely personal, private sin; it is also the collective sin of ecological apathy—the willful blindness that shrugs at melting glaciers so long as our shelves remain stocked and our thermostats cool.

Sounding the Horn Today

o be a Christian today is to inherit the mantle of the watchman. Pope Francis calls the Church to shake off what he terms the "globalization of indifference." The watchman does not stay silent out of politeness or fear of causing discomfort. The watchman speaks out because lives depend on the warning.

What does it mean for us to sound the horn?

  • Look to the high ramparts: Refuse to look away from the suffering of our brothers and sisters in Nepal, Tibet, and every frontline community bearing the cross of climate disruption. We must educate our consciences and acknowledge our shared responsibility in the web of life.
  • Embrace ecological conversion: Re-examine how we live, consume, and govern our desires. Are our choices feeding the flames that melt the Himalayas, or are they rooted in restraint, solidarity, and reverence for God's creation?
  • Exercise civic courage: Speak out to power by advocating for just climate policies, the rapid transition away from polluting fuels, and tangible financial support for mountain communities adapting to disasters they did not cause.

God tells Ezekiel that if the watchman sounds the warning, he saves his own soul. Faith cannot be a bunker where we hide from the groaning world. Today, the high peaks of the Himalayas are sending down their distress signal. The trumpet is in our hands. Let us not be silent.

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This essay based on this Sunday's readings and current events was developed collaboratively using artificial intelligence alongside human pastoral curation and theological editing. It is not intended as a finished script but as a catalyst to spark reflection, provide thematic inspiration, and support preachers in crafting their own authentic homilies.

Ezekiel’s Mandate
The Innocence of the Afflicted
Sounding the Horn Today

Fr. Mike Schmitz

23rd Sunday of Year A

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Fr. Mike Schmitz is the chaplain for the Newman Center at the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) and serves as the Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry for the Diocese of Duluth. He has created an extensive amount of online video content addressing faith, morality, and culture. 2023 video courtesy of Sundays with Ascension

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