It’s a month of many celebrations. The feasts of Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (8), Exaltation of the Holy Cross (14), Matthew the Apostle (21), and the Archangels (29) all appear in September. In addition, memorials for the Most Holy Name of Mary (12), Our Lady of Sorrows (15), and the Guardian Angels (Oct. 2) fall in this segment.

What can be the consequences of the prophetic calling to speak the truth? How do prophets have to accept the consequences of their truth-speaking?

Most of us have a friend who is determined to tell the truth at any cost. Or perhaps we should say that the truth comes at everyone’s cost. No sooner does the next victim of this relentless honesty leave the room when the “truth” descends in the form of gossip, criticism, a rehashing of the person’s past actions or present motives, even a forecast of future probabilities.

“If a fellow believer hurts you, go and tell him—work it out between the two of you. If he listens, you’ve made a friend. If he won’t listen, take one or two others along so that the presence of witnesses will keep things honest, and try again. If he still won’t listen, tell the church.

I am not very handy. I didn’t grow up watching my father fix things. He didn’t. So I never learned. It wasn’t necessary when I was a pastor. I would just call the parish maintenance staff or tech person when anything stopped working.

“Mommy, she hit me!” “Yeah, but he hit me first!” A wise parent knows not to enter into that kind of morass without a game plan. In today’s gospel, Jesus offers a strategy for reconciliation when one member of the church sins against another.

Jesus tells us that there is strength in numbers. Instead of stewing over the wrong someone did you, you should meet with the person and discuss the problem. This advice applies to situations at work, at home, or among neighbors.

Our God is always ready to forgive us. Let us turn to God for that forgiveness.

If we were good at everything, we would have no need for each other.