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Ordinary Time · Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time · Year A

Sirach 27:30–28:7

Forgive Your Neighbor's Wrong

September 13, 2026

The Return of the Prodigal Son, Rembrandt
The Return of the Prodigal Son, Rembrandt, c. 1668Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg
One of Rembrandt's last paintings. The father's two hands are different, one broad and one slender, and the son's shoes are worn through. The elder brother stands to the right, not moving.Forgive your neighbour the wrong he has done, and then your sins will be pardoned when you pray. Sirach asks it; the painting is the hardest case of it.RembrandtThe Dutch painter who treated scripture as something that happened to ordinary, badly lit people in rooms, and who painted his own face more than any artist before him.Hermitage Museum, Saint PetersburgCatherine the Great's collection grown into one of the largest museums on earth, filling the Winter Palace and the buildings beside it.Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg
Roman Lectionary
GospelMatt. 18:21-35Mt 18:21-35
Second ReadingRom. 14:7-9Rom 14:7-9
First ReadingSir. 27:30–28:7Sir 27:30–28:7
Responsorial PsalmPs. 103:1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12 (8)Ps 103:1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12 (8)

Overview & Insights

"Forgive your neighbor's injustice; then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven." (Sirach 28:2)

Ben Sira warns that wrath and vengeance are held fast only by sinners, and that the Lord remembers the sins of those who nurse their anger. He urges readers to forgive a neighbor's injury and to remember death and the covenant so they will overlook faults.

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Take it further: Sirach 27:30–28:7

Commentary

Sirach 28 (Haydock's Catholic Commentary)Sir 28 (Haydock's Catholic Commentary) StudyLight

A Catholic commentary on the chapter, glossing forgiveness, wrath, and vengeance.

Sirach 28:1 Verse-by-Verse CommentarySir 28:1 Verse-by-Verse Commentary StudyLight

Expositors gathered on the deuterocanonical chapter for a further voice.

First Reading Study, 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A) Agape Bible Study

A Catholic study drawing out Ben Sira's link between mercy shown and mercy received.

The Twenty-Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year A) Catholic Productions · Brant Pitre

Brant Pitre sets the Sirach reading alongside the Gospel of the unforgiving servant.

Background & Word Study

Sirach 28 (Douay-Rheims)Sir 28 (Douay-Rheims) New Advent · Catholic Encyclopedia

The Catholic Douay text of the chapter with cross references for the first reading.

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