Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 105
Reading 1
Moses said to the people:
"If only you would heed the voice of the LORD, your
God,
and keep his commandments and statutes
that are written in this book of the law,
when you return to the LORD, your God,
with all your heart and all your soul.
"For this command that I enjoin on you today
is not too mysterious and remote for you.
It is not up in the sky, that you should say,
'Who will go up in the sky to get it for us
and tell us of it, that we may carry it out?'
Nor is it across the sea, that you should say,
'Who will cross the sea to get it for us
and tell us of it, that we may carry it out?'
No, it is something very near to you,
already in your mouths and in your hearts;
you have only to carry it out."
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 69:14, 17, 30-31, 33-34, 36, 37
R. (cf. 33) Turn to the Lord in your need,
and you will live.
I pray to you, O LORD,
for the time of your favor, O God!
In your great kindness answer me
with your constant help.
Answer me, O LORD, for bounteous is your kindness:
in your great mercy turn toward me.
R. Turn to the Lord in your need, and you will live.
I am afflicted and in pain;
let your saving help, O God, protect me.
I will praise the name of God in song,
and I will glorify him with thanksgiving.
R. Turn to the Lord in your need, and you will live.
"See, you lowly ones, and be glad;
you who seek God, may your hearts revive!
For the LORD hears the poor,
and his own who are in bonds he spurns not."
R. Turn to the Lord in your need, and you will live.
For God will save Zion
and rebuild the cities of Judah.
The descendants of his servants shall inherit it,
and those who love his name shall inhabit it.
R. Turn to the Lord in your need, and you will live.
Reading 2
Christ Jesus is the image of
the invisible God,
the firstborn of all creation.
For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers;
all things were created through him and for him.
He is before all things,
and in him all things hold together.
He is the head of the body, the church.
He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things he himself might be preeminent.
For in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell,
and through him to reconcile all things for him,
making peace by the blood of his cross
through him, whether those on earth or those in heaven.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life;
you have the words of everlasting life.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
There was a scholar of the law who stood up to
test Jesus and said,
"Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
Jesus said to him, "What is written in the law?
How do you read it?"
He said in reply,
"You shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart,
with all your being,
with all your strength,
and with all your mind,
and your neighbor as yourself."
He replied to him, "You have answered correctly;
do this and you will live."
But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus,
"And who is my neighbor?"
Jesus replied,
"A man fell victim to robbers
as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho.
They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead.
A priest happened to be going down that road,
but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
Likewise a Levite came to the place,
and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him
was moved with compassion at the sight.
He approached the victim,
poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them.
Then he lifted him up on his own animal,
took him to an inn, and cared for him.
The next day he took out two silver coins
and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction,
'Take care of him.
If you spend more than what I have given you,
I shall repay you on my way back.'
Which of these three, in your opinion,
was neighbor to the robbers' victim?"
He answered, "The one who treated him with mercy."
Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."
MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,
The words of Moses are both beautiful and loving. Here, Moses simplifies what we make more difficult through our pattern of super-analyzing things that really are more obvious to a child. Through our relationship with God, we already know what we must do in order to live a joyous, purpose-driven life. Created in God’s image, we have been given a gift of understanding that God loves us and that the only thing that He wants us to do is to love Him back fully and completely. When love is the central aspect of our relationship with God, everything else will automatically fall into place.
The Book of Deuteronomy is basically a Book of Instruction. Moses is giving his final instructions to The People of Israel before they enter The Promised Land after 40 years of wandering in the desert. This is seen a time of preparation. The Israelites are getting ready to cross over The River of Jordan and to lay claim to that which God has promised to them. Moses has brought things down to a very personal, intimate level, which reflects the relationship that God wants to have with us. At the same time, he indicates that what he is saying is nothing new. What is at the center of a joyous life, prosperous life is a close relationship with God. He foreshadows times of disobedience and rejection of God, but then offers a solution:
“If only you would heed the voice of the LORD, your God,
and keep his commandments and statutes
that are written in this book of the law,
when you return to the LORD, your God,
with all your heart and all your soul.”
Throughout history, these words would be echoed by the prophets, as God continually seeks to re-establish a relationship with His children when they wander away, which we all tend to do. The solution is placed before us. It is mercy for the repentant. When we sin and when we do not listen, God is ready to forgive if only we ask for forgiveness, listen, and come back to Him. Notice Moses uses the phrase, “return to the Lord.” It is never God who leaves us, but it is us who leaves Him. He wants to be close to us, as a child is at rest in its mother’s arm, to comfort us and protect us from ourselves. We are our own enemy. God knows this, so He presents the solution even before the problem arises.
This is a simple solution but one that has confounded all humanity since we were created. There is a part of us, rooted in original sin, that leads us to rebellion. This defect is something that cannot be completely removed while we live but can be reduced in effectiveness by focusing on our relationship with God. Our faith needs to be strengthened and maintained to serve as a counterbalance to the evil influences of this world that present themselves daily. God reminded us through Moses that,
“Both what is still hidden and what has already been revealed concern us and our descendants forever, that we may carry out all the words of the law.”
This means that there is no end to this process until we are finally one with God. We will always struggle with our relationship with God. We will have our successes and our failures. We will please God and we will disappoint Him. When we fall victim to the bad things that this life has to offer and are engulfed in sin, it is important to realize our shortcomings and return to God so that we may be healed of our infirmities.
Psalm 69 is a prayer that is described as A Cry of Anguish in Great Distress and describes the healing process and the promise that God offers for those who call out to Him. It lists all of the sufferings and describes beautifully the lament of the soul in a time of great crisis. It then offers a solution through a promise that God makes to us:
“See, you lowly ones, and be glad:
You who seek God, take heart!
For the Lord hears the poor,
Does not spurn those in bondage.
Let the heavens and the earth sing praise,
The seas and whatever moves them!”
Even before our times of distress have ended, we are promised that God will rescue us from ourselves if only we turn to Him. Our burdens will be lifted and our sufferings relieved if we just turn them over to God. He knows we cannot do this alone and He doesn’t want us to even try. The more we dedicate ourselves to loving God, the easier our life will become.
We are part of God’s creation. We are created in God’s image. At the pinnacle of His creation is Jesus Christ. Everything else is below Him and is subject to Him in all respect. It is through Jesus that The Law has been brought to its fulfillment and a New Covenant was established. It is through Jesus that all things are transformed from the imperfect to the perfect. He serves as the gateway to The Father. With this understanding we go to Him. Our spirit is drawn to Him because it is from Him from whence we came. He knows our innermost thoughts and knows what is best for us. As is always the case, it is better to listen to someone who has more wisdom than ourselves. That alone should serve as an encouragement to do this, but the point is further emphasized when the love He has for us is taken into consideration. It would behoove us to love that which is pure love and who loves us so much that The Blood of the Cross still screams out in response to that question that we all have uttered at some point in our miserable lives, “How much do you love me?” The answer is true and obvious. It is right before us.
The Parable of the Good Samaritan is a story that Jesus told to make a point. We all should live our lives with an expectation of being forgiven and healed by God. This comes down again to relationship. The closer that we are to God, the easier that it will be for us to experience His forgiveness, love, and Divine Mercy. When we encounter God and are better as a result, we are then expected to give away freely what was given us. This is an example of being involved in The Trinitarian Relationship. God works in us and then He works through us. Our job is to get out of the way and let Him do the work He wants to do. We can either fight the process or encourage the process. When we resist, there is friction and chaos, thus leading us back to our previous state of brokenness. When we accept the process, we are healed along with all of those whom we interact with. Through this acceptance, a higher truth is revealed. The base of this truth is within The Greatest Commandments where the entirety of The Law is defined. It is through and by loving God and our neighbor that the imperfect fades away and perfection is revealed. The Good Samaritan can be seen as Jesus as we can be seen as the man wounded and beaten by the side of the road. Jesus cares for us, cleans us, and bandages our wounds. He then turns us over into the loving arms of The Church, where we are further tended to and can recover from our seemingly hopeless situation.
We can leave the confides of the inn at any time, forgetting about the man who so lovingly cared for us and nurtured us back to our previous state, or we can remain in the warmth and security that has been provided for us. Outside it is cold and foreboding. Inside, everything for us is provided for at no cost. It is there that we can wait for the man’s return to celebrate our good fortune and our good health from which we have been restored to. We need not suffer at our own hands. We only have to love and be loved.
Deacon Tom
No comments:
Post a Comment