27TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Psalter: Week 3 / (Green)
Ps 111:1b-2, 7-8, 9 & 10c
The Lord will remember his covenant forever.
1st Reading: Gal 1:6-12
I am surprised at how quickly you have abandoned God, who called you, according to the grace of Christ, and have gone to another gospel. Indeed, there is no other gospel, but some people, who are sowing confusion among you, want to turn the gospel of Christ upside down.
But even if we, ourselves, were giving you another gospel, different from the one we preached to you, or if it were an angel from heaven, I would say: let God’s curse be on him! As I have said, I now say again: if anyone preaches the gospel in a way other than you received it, fire that one!
Are we to please humans or obey God? Do you think that I try to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.
Let me remind you, brothers and sisters, that the gospel we preached to you is not a human message, nor did I receive it from anyone, I was not taught of it; but it came to me, as a revelation from Christ Jesus.
Gospel: Lk 10:25-37
Then a teacher of the law came and began putting Jesus to the test. And he said, “Master, what shall I do to receive eternal life?” Jesus replied, “What is written in the law? How do you understand it?” The man answered, “It is written: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind. And you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus replied, “What a good answer! Do this and you shall live.” The man wanted to justify his question, so he asked, “Who is my neighbor?”
Jesus then said, “There was a man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him and went off, leaving him half-dead.
It happened that a priest was going along that road and saw the man, but passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite saw the man, and passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan also was going that way; and when he came upon the man, he was moved with compassion. He went over to him, and cleaned his wounds with oil and wine, and wrapped them in bandages. Then he put him on his own mount, and brought him to an inn, where he took care of him.
The next day, he had to set off; but he gave two silver coins to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him, and whatever you spend on him, I will repay when I return.’”
Jesus then asked, “Which of these three, do you think, made himself neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The teacher of the law answered, “The one who had mercy on him.” And Jesus said, “Then go and do the same.”
Reflections
The lawyer knew his Scriptures very well. When Jesus asks, “What is written in the law?“ the lawyer quotes from Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18, verses we now call the “two great commandments: love God and love your neighbor,“ reminding us of the “two tablets“ of the law which Moses brought down from Mount Sinai. The first commandment about loving God is the “Shema“ which every Jewish child knows by heart, beginning with “Hear (shema), O Israel. The Lord is our God, the Lord alone…“ It is the prayer the lawyer in this story would have recited twice every day as an adult Jewish man. The second is a repeated theme throughout the Torah. Speaking through Moses God makes very clear to the people of Israel that they should care for the strangers and aliens among them. God loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing. You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt (Deuteronomy 10:18-19).
In the gospel, Jesus changes the lawyer‘s question. The lawyer asked, “And who is my neighbor?“ By his definition the neighbors of the story would have been the priest and the Levite, members of his group, not the alien and heretical Samaritan. However, at the end of the story, Jesus changes the question by asking, “Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor?“ that is, “Who proved to be a neighbor?“ “Neighbor“ is not defined by location or group but by those who need concern and care. Our “neighbors“ are those who need us anywhere and anytime and the challenge is to respond in full generosity and mercy and not hindered by any form of constructed social barrier.
Daily Reflection 2018
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Biblical Texts are taken from Christian Community Bible, Catholic Pastoral Edition (57th Edition) The New English Translation for the ROMAN MISSAL
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