Introduction to the Liturgy of the Day

We come today to listen to God’s word and celebrate the Eucharist. Gathered together in this place, we look around and see our neighbors. Many of them are people much like us. The neighbor in today’s Gos- pel—the good Samaritan—is not. Samaritans were seen as outcasts by the Jewish people who frequented the road from Jerusalem to Jericho. Yet it was this foreigner, this outsider, this stranger, who is the true neighbor to the Jewish victim. May hearing this parable expand our understanding of “neighbor” as it moves our hearts to reach out to those not like us.

Introduction to the Liturgy of the Word

Moses speaks to a sinful people in the first reading, pleading with them to keep the LORD’s commandments as they repent with their whole heart and soul. In the Gospel, a scholar of the law—of all God’s command- ments—goes one step further, asking Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. Realizing that loving one’s neighbor is at the heart of the answer, he asks Jesus who his neighbor is. It is in this context that Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan, asking the questioner who was the true neighbor. May today’s readings inspire us to accept the chal- lenge to treat all others—friends or strangers—as worthy of our love.
 

Reflections

• After Moses enjoined the Chosen People to keep the LORD’s commandments, he encouraged them by pointing out that the commandments were easily acces- sible. They were not hidden in the heavens or beyond the edge of the sea. No, the law to love God and neighbor was written right on their hearts, the words right on their lips. So too for us. The law of love is not beyond our reach, for it was planted in us in baptism. We know what we should do; we rely upon God’s grace in following through.

• It was perfectly rational for the priest and the Levite to do exactly what they did in the parable of the good Samaritan. They both had important responsibili- ties in the temple. If they were traveling to Jerusalem, it would have been very important that they maintain their ritual purity. The victim on the side of the road was half-dead. They would be considered unclean if they even came within four cubits of a dead body, so they couldn’t even get close enough to determine if he was still breathing or not. No wonder they hurried by on the opposite side. Both could easily rationalize their inaction by telling themselves that serving the Lord in the temple was more important than serving the stranger dying on the road. But rationalization is just a way that we use to explain or excuse something we do that we know is wrong. We rationalize rather than listen to our conscience.

• Though Jesus did not explicitly refer to this parable when he told his disciples about the last judgment, he could have said about those who he welcomed into the kingdom, “I was lying half-dead by the side of the road and you cared for me.” The priest and Levite could only see their Lord as present in the temple in Jerusalem; they failed to see him lying bleeding on the side of the road. Only the Samaritan was moved with compassion by what he could not fail to see: a fellow child of God in need of care and mercy. Can we see the Lord in a stranger in need?
 

Question of the Week

How do I rationalize passing by someone in need? What will spur me to stop and help instead?

-from Pastoral Patterns

LISTEN HERE to the Audio Recordings of the Readings of Sunday, July 10th, 2022, Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

SELECT HERE for the Readings of Sunday, July 10th, 2022, Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

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