By Martin Jumbam
Mother Church invites us to celebrate Sunday, July 10, 2016 as the 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year C. In the entrance antiphon we pray: “In my justice I shall see your face, O Lord; when your glory appears, my joy will be full. Amen.”
The first reading is the final discourse which the sacred writer of the Book of Deuteronomy attributes to Moses. He tells his people how God takes initiative to save them. His covenant of loyalty, however, requires a response from his people because he puts before them life and prosperity, death and disaster, and the choice is theirs. God has created them as a nation consecrated to doing his will on earth. They should therefore love God and his precepts with all their heart, mind and soul. In the second reading, Saint Paul tells his converts of Colossae that Christ is the fullness of God’s power and glory. Everything was created by him and in him. Only he was present at the creation and all things were made for him. He took human nature to reconcile us with the Father and to make us co-heirs of his divinity. In the Gospel, Saint Luke tells us the well-known story of the good Samaritan who helps a Jew, whereas a priest and a Levite, men vocationally committed to God, walk on the other side of the road, leaving unattended a fellow Jew, wounded by thieves, even though the law obliges them to help. Through this story, Jesus tells them, and us, that they should not simply preach the law, but they also have the obligation to put what they preach into practice – which they fail to do. In the course of this Eucharist, let us pray for the grace to be cheerful and friendly neighbours to have, and to come to the assistance of whoever may be in trouble, friend and foe alike.
First Reading: Deuteronomy 30:10-14.
Moses spoke to the people, saying, “You shall obey the voice of the Lord your God, and keep his commandments and his statutes which were written in this book of the law and turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. “For this commandment which I command you this day is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go up for us in heaven, and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us, and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.”
V/ The word of the Lord.
R/ Thanks be to God.
Comment
Deuteronomy, which is the second Law laid down by Moses before the entry into the Promised Land, is the fifth of the first five books of the OT. The first is Genesis, which deals with the origin of the world, mankind and the people of Israel; the second is Exodus, which recounts the Israelites’ escape from Egypt; the third is Leviticus, which gives the lists of the laws of the priests of the tribe of Levi; the fourth is Numbers, which gives the list of those who came out of Egypt and wandered about in the desert. These five books form a unit known collectively as the Pentateuch (from the Greek word for five books), or as the Torah (the Hebrew word for the Law).
Deuteronomy recounts the main events at the end of the forty years the Israelites spent wandering in the desert under Moses. They have set up camp within sight of the Promised Land and they are about to embark on its conquest. Moses, whom the Lord will not allow to cross into this land, addresses them by giving them his last will in farewell speeches. He tells them how they are to behave once they cross the River Jordan and reminds them of the main events that occurred during the Exodus and urges them to keep the Law of the Covenant.
The passage of our meditation is the final discourse the sacred writer attributes to Moses. It is a passage that directly refers to how privileged the people of Israel are to have the Law. They have been told of God’s love and care for them and have been instructed on what God in turn expects from them.
This passage contains some of the finest words in the Bible on the word of God. Saint Paul uses this passage in his Letter to the Romans (10:6-8), applying it, not to the Law of Moses, but to the New Covenant as preached by the Apostles. The Christian people, who possess the New Law as brought to them by Christ, are in a better position than the people of the Old Alliance for they have received the grace of Christ.
The law which God handed to Moses clearly revealed his will and made it easier to fulfill. By the Incarnation, the Word of God, Christ Jesus, became flesh and dwelt among us and showed us the way to God. For the Christian, the life and teaching of Jesus are divine precepts and commandments. Through his Incarnation, Jesus brought us grace and truth; by rising from the dead he conquered death; by ascending into heaven, he and the Father sent the Holy Spirit to perfect his work of redemption. In the Old Law, the Israelites did not have available to them the grace won by Christ but God, in his boundless mercy, helped them to do what was required of them in anticipation of the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
In the verse that follows this passage God sets two options before Israel: choose life or choose death. If they obey his commandments, they will be choosing life and he will reward them abundantly; if they refuse to obey his commandments, they will be choosing death over life. With Christ, we choose life.
Let us pray with the Psalmist: “I pray to you, O Lord, for a time of your favour. In your great mercy, answer me, O God, with your salvation that never fails. Lord, answer, for your mercy is kind; in your great compassion, turn towards me. Amen.”
Second Reading: Colossians 1:15-20.
Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation; for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities – 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 first-born from the dead, that in everything he might be pre-eminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and though him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
V/ The word of the Lord.
R/ Thanks be to God.
Comment
Saint Paul’s Letter to the Colossians is one of four letters that have traditionally been classified as his “Captivity Epistles” because they were written when the Apostle of the Gentiles was in prison. The other three are his letters to the Ephesians, to Philemon and to the Philippians. Given that Saint Paul suffered imprisonment in Ephesus, Caesarea and Rome, it is not always easy to say whether or not these letters were written from the same prison.
In Saint Paul’s time Colossae was a small city in Asia Minor. Most of the inhabitants of this region were Gentiles, although it had a sizeable Jewish population. Saint Paul visited this region on two occasions; the first time was during his second journey on the way from Lystra and Iconium to Galatia (Acts 15:6), and the second was during his third journey, when he stayed there for a short while to strengthen the faith of the disciples in Phrygia (Acts 18:23).
The origins of the Church in Colossae lie in Saint Paul’s long stay in Ephesus during his second apostolic journey when, as a result of his preaching, “all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks” (Acts 19:10). Some of those who listened to Paul were Colossians, who became converts, received baptism and began to spread the Gospel.
The passage the Church has selected for our meditation is a very beautiful hymn in praise of Christ’s sublime dignity as God and as man. The real protagonist of this passage is Jesus Christ, Son of God made man. Christ’s dominion covers the whole world given that it is in him that all things are created (v.16). Since Christ is the Word of God, he is above all things, and Saint Paul stresses that all angels – irrespective of their hierarchy – come under him. By his death and resurrection, Christ has restored peace and reconciled all things – the world and man – to God. Jews and Gentiles like are both called to form part of one body, the Church, of which Christ is the head; and all the celestial powers are subject to his authority.
This passage is a true celebration of Christ as head of the Church. He is the “first born of all creation”, meaning that he is above all created things since they were all created through him and for him. He is God who, with the Father created all things. Saint Paul goes on to say that “in him all things hold together”, meaning that the Son of God created everything.
“He is the head of the body, the Church”. The Church is a body and as such is one and undivided. As Saint Paul says in Romans (12:5), “We, though many, are one body in Christ.” It is through Christ that God brings reconciliation into the world. This reconciliation is fostered by the Holy Spirit, who enables the Church to continue the process of reconciliation.
Let us pray that that the peace Jesus brings should continue to bring reconciliation among us, Christians, and between us and those around us. We say this prayer for reconciliation taken from the Visigothic Liturgy: “Lord, God, out of your great love for the world, you reconciled earth to heaven through your only-begotten Son our Savior. In the darkness of our sins, we fail to love one another as we should; please pour your light into our souls and fill us with your tenderness that we may embrace our friends in you and our enemies for your sake, in a bond of mutual affection. We make our prayer through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.”
Gospel: Luke 10: 25-37.
At that time: Behold, a lawyer stood up to put Jesus to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered right; do this, and you will live.” But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbour?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was; and when he saw him, he had compassion, and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; then he set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved neighbour to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed mercy on him.” And Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
V/ The Gospel of the Lord.
R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Comment
In this moving and well-known parable of the Good Samaritan, which only appears in the Gospel of Saint Luke, our Blessed Lord gives us a great description of who our neighbour is and how we should show him charity and compassion, even if he happens to be an enemy.
In the parable, Jesus raises the question of the enmity between his own people, the Jews, and the Samaritans. John tells us in his Gospel that “Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans” (Jn 4: 9). Jews despised Samaritans, who were descendants of Jews who had remained in Palestine during the period of deportation and exile and had inter-married with the foreign occupiers. When the other Jews returned from exile around the year 520 BC, they refused to have anything to do with the Samaritans. The racial difference also filtered into religion as the Jews refused to allow the Samaritans to help them rebuild the temple at Jerusalem. In response, the Samaritans established their own rival priesthood and built their own temple on Mount Garizim. As the Samaritan woman tells our Lord, “Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain [Garizim] but you people say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem” (Jn 4:20).
The hostility between these two people was such that no Jew would ever pronounce the name ‘Samaritan’. That is why when Jesus asks the lawyer who of the three people in this parable proved to be a neighbour, the lawyer would dare not pronounce the word ‘Samaritan’; instead he says ‘The one who took pity on him’. That way he would not have to pronounce the dreadful name.
The lawyer’s initial question “Who is my neighbour?” gives Christ a wonderful opportunity to show him the futility of the hostility between their two people. To the Jew, his neighbour could only be another Jew but Christ shows that their view of who a neighbour is, is too narrow. A traveler, probably a Jew, falls into the hands of robbers, who strip him of his goods and wound him in the process. A priest and a Levite, both Jewish religious personalities, ignore him and cross to the other side of the road and continue their way, most probably to worship in the temple. A Samaritan, a person from whom assistance is least expected, sees the wounded man and is moved with compassion and comes to his assistance. A despised Samaritan, the one who is publicly cursed in the synagogue, the one whose evidence is not acceptable in a court of law, is the one Christ holds up as the hero, who goes beyond the limits of religion and race to help a fellow human being.
Many a times we too are like the priest and Levite, who cross the road to walk away from a tragedy simply because the victim is not one of us; he or she is not from our tribe or ethnic or religious group. Jesus is challenging us to revise our notion of who a neighbour is to us. How often do we say, referring to others, “that’s how those people are! That’s how those Francophones are! I don’t care what happens to him! C’est comme ca qu’ils sont, ces anglophones! Je m’en fous de ce qui peut leur arriver!). So, like the priest and the Levite, we walk on the other side to go to more important things. We thus commit the sin of omission.
Jesus is telling us that as Christians we must challenge traditions that ask us to be hostile to others. If loving your neighbour means being disloyal to your tradition, then disloyalty becomes a virtue. This Gospel message asks us defy hatred and intensify love and compassion for everyone, irrespective of who they are or where they come from, or what religion they worship. It challenges our hate and promotes our love for one another. It calls on us to extend the boundaries of our love to include even our traditional enemies. Let us be like the Good Samaritan, who goes to the wounded man’s assistance, without second thought. He does not wait to see what the man’s race is, nor his religion; he goes to his help instantly. That is what compassion is all about. He is a caring person, ready to lend a helping hand when the need arises.
This message is all the more compelling as we are celebrating a special Jubilee of Mercy. There should therefore be no doubt as to who our neighbour is – anyone (without distinction of race, skin colour, tribal or ethnic or religious affiliation) who needs our help, our mercy, our compassion. Christians, who are disciples of Christ, should always share Christ’s love and compassion with others.
Let us pray with Saint Thomas Aquinas for the grace to always remember the weak, the needy and the marginalized in our society: “Grant, Lord, that I may gladly share what I have with the needy, humbly ask for what I need from him who has, sincerely admit the evil I have done, calmly bear the evil I suffer, not envy my neighbor for his blessings, and thank you unceasingly whenever you hear my prayer. Amen.”
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