Today is the 12th Sunday after Pentecost. St. Augustine always reminds his brothers that as a community living under the law, what is important is to live life under grace. It is the divine grace from God that truly moves us to conversion, to adhere to God’s will and standards. God’s grace is a gift, but we absolutely cooperate. In the first epistle today, on the other hand, St. Paul knew so well that the people of Corinth had begun to lose their understanding of the gospel preached by Paul because they began embracing the false message coming from their Jewish influence. Even though they have received the law, the Torah, they could not transform them because there is nothing that convinces them in order to change their hearts.
Life is a matter of choice and decision. It requires us to be truly careful to make choices which we defend solely on wise judgment among good options. St. Paul says, “Not that we are sufficient to think anything of ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God.” This is to prove that we are imperfect, which I believe leads us to realize that we need Jesus, the perfect Incarnate Son, being conscious that we have no ability to save ourselves, but rather depending on His mercy and grace utterly suffices the longing of our hearts and spirits to give glory to Him. When we open up to God’s grace, we find ourselves to be slaves of Christ, like St. Paul, so that we find the confidence to honor God in Jesus Christ.
When God’s grace has been received by us, we need to be equally gracious with each other. Our exposure to Christ’s grace, through the Holy Spirit, transforms our lives to no longer live under the power of sinful choices. Christ always is on a rescue to take us from these discouraging, defeating and distracting situations. I would say, all these imperfections are made right when we are with Jesus, who stands in the view of a perfect God, in whose image we are all created.
St. Paul is clear on this matter that we are not enough in ourselves; and only God can fill the void in our hearts and souls. We are forever alive in Christ; therefore, let us walk in triumph, “for the ministration of justice, aboundeth in glory,” which is through the regeneration of the Holy Spirit.
The gospel taken from St. Luke narrates to us a parable of Jesus. Jesus told His disciples, “May your eyes and ears be blessed because many prophets and kings desired to see and hear but did not; therefore, be aware of the promptings of the Holy Spirit.”
In today’s gospel, Jesus is narrating a story to the disciples and to the listeners who cannot accept the act of goodness performed by the Samaritan having a good heart towards the man who was a victim of robbery. Then a certain lawyer asked, “Master, what must I do to possess eternal life?” Jesus answered him, “What is written in the law?” The lawyer remembered, “Shema, Oh Israel, Thou shalt love the Lord, thy God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind and thy neighbor as thyself.” (Dt. 6:4-5) Jesus responded, “You answered correctly, this do and you shall live.”
Jesus did a follow up by narrating a parable. Three men saw a man lying half-dead. The priest, seeing him, passed by and did nothing to rescue the man. The next, the Levite, did the same without lifting a finger to aid the man. Lastly, the Samaritan, seeing the same man, was moved by compassion, helped the man, bound up his wounds and brought him to an inn and took care of him.
Only the Samaritan was the one who saw a person, a brother and a neighbor in need of help. His compassion did not make him think twice or rationalize to qualify the man from being rescued and to be attended. Even for a person who can be considered a stranger, the Samaritan’s heart went out to show love and compassion.
Jesus never hesitates to say, “Go and be like the Samaritan.“ Jesus simply says, “Go do likewise.” It means go and show your love and mercy!
Brothers and sisters, who is your neighbor? Whose neighbor will you be? Do I exclude others by doing the right thing? Am I eager to love and be merciful? I know we want to do the right thing, not seeking personal gratification, recognition, and media mileage, however out of our duty to stop, show love and compassion even to the point of facing personal risks. Our first reaction is to be good responders when we see evil has been done and get involved in moments of a person being maligned and humiliated. It requires great humility to accept the grace from God, who we are called to be willing to extend goodness and grace. Who knows, someday the one whom you help and rescue will be the same person Jesus has sent into your life to pull you up from the ditch, from the dirt of shame, and gives you an opportunity to be healed and be transformed.
Many times, God wipes away our pride to accept someone who is willing to walk with us out of misery and indifference. Everyone must love every person thru the power of God’s efficient and effective words to change us.
God bless you.
Fr. Arlon, osa
