Votes : 0
TO INHERIT LIFE
Loving God would not make sense for the ancient Greeks. The gods could love people: they show their preference by giving unique gifts and favors. As a sign of gratitude, they expected sacrifices and burnt offerings from the person they favored. A reflection of this mentality is also present in some texts of the Old Testament. Through the mouth of prophet Malachi, the Lord complains of the despicable holocausts that priests offer him: "The servant respects his master ... Where is the honor due to me?" (Mal 1:6). Unlike the pagans, Israel loves her God. Here is what Moses recommends to the people: "What is it that the Lord asks of you if not to love him and serve him with all your heart and with all your soul?" (Deut 10:12). “Love consists in keeping the commandments” (Ex 20:6) and "to follow his ways" (Deut 19:9).
Love of neighbor, above all the poor, orphan, widow, and stranger, is viewed in this frame: this is practiced because it is a work pleasing to God. The New Testament gives us the whole light that allows us to understand what it means to love God. The first letter of John is very explicit: "This is love: not that we loved God but that he first loved us... Dear friends, if such has been the love of God, we, too, must love one another" (1 Jn 4:10-11).
The logical leap is immediately apparent. We would expect, if God so loved us, we also ought to love him. But God does not ask anything for himself. There is only one way to respond to his love: love your brethren and not "only with words and with our lips, but in truth and in deed" (1 Jn 3:18).
To internalize the message, we repeat: "I give you a new commandment—says the Lord- that you love as I have loved you."
======================================================================
First Reading: Deuteronomy 30:10-14
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.” —The Word of the Lord.
How do we know the will of God? The people of antiquity resorted to magicians and astrologers; they consulted priests and soothsayers and turned to those studying the holy books. Even today, many do not bother to know what God wants and simply choose what is more convenient: the fortune tellers, clairvoyants, and interpreters of horoscopes have more followers than the wisest masters of spiritual life. Christians have one sure guide: the Gospel. They read, pray, meditate on it, and in these moments of reflection, God reveals himself and makes them know his plans and will.
Today’s reading recalls another effortless way for everyone to discover the will of God: Listen to your heart! It says: the commandment of the Lord is not “far from you” (v. 11), “it is not up in heaven” (v. 12), “not beyond the sea” (v. 13), “is very near you, it is already in your mouth and in your heart” (v. 14). What God wants is also what our inner self asks. The law of God is born from our very nature as human beings.
We will find a confirmation of this fact in this Sunday’s Gospel passage. Despite not having studied theology while not ‘attending church, the Samaritan does the will of God guided solely by a feeling of compassion for an unfortunate one. If our hearts were pure and simple, if we do not let passions blind them, we would always make choices by the commandment of the Lord. The law of God says the reading—is not an arbitrary imposition of a master but is an expression of what the best part of ourselves asks us to do.
We do not involve ourselves in bold projects; we are afraid to take risks. We evaluate and reason coldly and aloofly because we listen little to the heart!
Second Reading: Colossians 1:15-20
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. —The Word of the Lord.
We will meditate on the Letter to the Colossians for four Sundays. Paul is in prison (Col 4:3.10.18) when, from the valley of Lycus, in Asia Minor, Epaphras, the great apostle who founded and keeps alive the communities of that region, comes to visit him. The news that he brings is alarming. Strange doctrines have seduced Christians: they believe that the heavens are populated by powers, by spirits that move the universe. They believe that these spirits are endowed with a mysterious force that can affect people's lives. They fear these powers, and they think that they are superior to Christ. Paul writes to the Colossians and recommends them to circulate his letter in the neighboring communities (Col 4:16).
He starts with the hymn to Christ that is proposed to us in today's reading.?In the first part (vv. 15-17), he celebrates the primacy of Christ over all creation. In the second (vv. 18-20), Paul proclaims that Christ is the first in the new creation because he was the first to conquer death and to open all the way to God. So, he has subdued under his power the thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers (these were the names by which the Colossians call the mysterious spirits that instill fear in them). The fear of the bad spirits, spells, evils, the belief in magic rituals, and superstitions are not compatible with the faith in the victory and dominion of Christ over all creatures.
Gospel: Luke 10:25-37
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.” Jesus replied to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.”
But because the scholar 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 fromJerusalem 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 the victim, he passed by on the opposite side. Likewise a Levite came to the place, and when he saw the victim, he passed by on the opposite side. But a Samaritan traveler who came upon the victim 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?” The scholar answered, “The one who treated him with mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.” —The Gospel of the Lord.
The worst insult that one could direct to a Jew was ‘dog’ or ‘pagan’; the second was ‘Samaritan,’ that amounted to ‘bastard, renegade, or heretic!’ (Jn 8:48). At the end of his book, Ben Sira reports an almost sarcastic saying which shows the contempt of the Jews against the Samaritans. He calls them: “the foolish people who live in Shechem,” and that does not even deserve to be considered a people (Sir 50:25-26).
The Jews had their good reasons for believing that the Samaritans were ‘excommunicated.’ For many centuries, they were so mixed up with other people that they could not now be considered descendants of Abraham. They were contaminated with pagan cults, had forgotten the traditions of their fathers, and lived impurely (2 K 17). They did not accept the books of the prophets as sacred, nor those of wisdom nor the Psalms. Even Jesus, responding to the Samaritan woman, does not hesitate to tell her: you do not even know which god you worship, for salvation comes from the Jews (Jn 4:22). Two Sundays ago, the Gospel recalled the Samaritans snubbing the Master and the apostles (Lk 9:53).
Today's Gospel begins (vv. 25-29) presenting to us not a Samaritan, but a Jew, not a sinner, but a righteous man, a teacher of the law who asks Jesus: “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Note the nuanced theology: he does not speak of ‘merit’ but to inherit eternal life. The inheritance—we know it—is not earned; one receives it completely free of charge.
Adapting himself to the practice of rabbinic disputes, Jesus does not give an immediate answer but addresses him a counter-question: “What is written in the law?” The rabbi promptly appeals to two biblical texts. The first is well known because every pious Israelite recites it in the morning and evening prayers: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength" (Deut 6:5); the second, on which he insisted a little less, is taken from the book of Leviticus: "and your neighbor as yourself" (Lev 19:18). Perfect answer!
Is that all then? If God's judgment is about the knowledge of a doctrine, the lawyer should be given full marks. But Jesus, after the praise—“What a good answer!”—adds, “Do this and you shall live” (v. 28). "Do!" It is not enough to "know." It is the life that proves if we have assimilated the Word of the Lord or not.
The rabbi—who failed to embarrass Jesus—insists: "And who is my neighbor?" He is also willing to do, but without overdoing it. He wants to establish well the boundaries of love. There was a discussion among the rabbis about who should be considered a neighbor. Some—referring to the text above of Leviticus that parallels the term neighbor with sons of your people—said they had to love only the children of Abraham. Others extended this love also to foreigners who lived long in the land of Israel. But all agreed that the distant peoples and, above all, the enemies were not neighbors. The monks of Qumran adhered to this principle: ‘love the children of the light and hate the children of darkness,’ and for the "children of light," they meant the members of their community.
Jesus does not answer the question of the doctor of the law because he considers it outdated. For him, there is no barrier between people, and the problem is not knowing how far love should reach but how to demonstrate it by loving God and neighbor. On this point—the most important, indeed, the only one that matters—is that the Jew and the Samaritan are compared. The assessment is not based on what one knows, that is, the faith one professes by mouth, but on what one does.
“There was a man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho” ... (v. 30). These two towns are located 27 km from each other. The road is a sharp descent (a drop of 1000 meters) through the Judean desert along the Quelt wadi. It continues among cliffs, caves, and precipices to the plains of Jericho, the beautiful "City of Palms." There, Herod, the wealthy families of the capital, and many priests of the temple had their villas and winter residences. People traveled on this road, always in convoy to avoid being attacked by robbers and bandits.
A man—Jesus says—who knows well the danger of the place—was attacked by robbers who beat him, robbed him, and left him half dead along the way. Who was he? We do not know anything about him: neither age nor profession, nor the tribe to which he belonged, nor the religion he professed. We do not know if he was white or black, good or bad, friend or foe. What did he do in Jerusalem: to pray or to revel? To offer sacrifices in the temple or to steal? He was qualified most generically: he was a man! And this is enough. Even if he were a wicked person, he would not lose his dignity as a man in need of help.?
By chance, a priest and a Levite descended on the same route (vv. 31-32). That ‘by chance’ is nice! We need not go to look for the needy brother. The circumstances and coincidences make us encounter him. How do churchmen behave? The Levites were the sexton, the temple guards. We are faced with two Jews, respectable people who prayed and had clear ideas about God and religion. Why does Jesus introduce these two "men of the church" in his story? He could have avoided the controversy and shown a positive example immediately. Why provoke the ‘notables,’ the ‘members of the hierarchy?’
The Master had the ‘bad habit’ of blaming ‘religious’ persons (cf. Lk 7:44 -47, 11:37-53; 17:18; 18:9-14; etc.). The reason is the same for which, before him, the prophets had vigorously attacked the worship, rituals, and the solemn ceremonies of the temple: God does not tolerate exterior formalism used as a convenient loophole to avoid being caught up in the problems of people. Incense, chants, and endless prayers try to replace the concrete commitment in favor of the orphan, the widow, and the oppressed are repugnant to God (Is 1:11-17). Jesus mentions the phrase of the prophet Hosea several times: "What I want is mercy, not sacrifice" (Mt 9:13; 12:7).
What are the priest and the Levite doing? They arrive on the site, they see ... but they pass on by the other side. Perhaps they are afraid of being attacked; maybe they are worried about ritual purity (he could be dead, and touching a dead body prevents one from officiating in the temple); perhaps they do not want to get into trouble, or maybe they have no time to lose.
They come from Jerusalem, where they have some part in the solemn liturgies. They spent a week—this was the duration of their service—with the Lord, and from a person who unites oneself to God, we would expect love and care for the needy. The two ‘church people’ come from the temple, yet they are insensitive, do not feel compassion—the first of God’s feelings (Ex 34:6). This means that the religion they practice is hypocritical, and it hardens their heart rather than soften them. What will God do with this religion that provides an alibi to escape the problems of people, which seeks to avoid problems by passing ‘by on the other side?’ The man attacked by bandits is for Jesus, the symbol of all the physical and psychological violence victims.
At this point, the listeners expect that after the two ‘churchmen,’ the helper will enter the scene. They are sure that he would be a secular Jew. Had Jesus carried on the parable in this way, the people—who, even at that time, were benevolent anti-clericals like today’s Christians—would have recognized and applauded. Instead, here is the surprise. The provocation appears to be one of those that says ‘the candles’ smoke bothers him’—a Samaritan. Mind you: he is not a "good Samaritan,"—as some translations say—but just a Samaritan. He was traveling, and he had his plans.
The description of what he does at the sight of the wounded man is accurate.?Jesus does not neglect any detail because he wants to contrast his conduct to the priest and the Levite. "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" (vv. 33-34).
Encountering a person in need, he no longer follows the head but the heart. He forgets his business commitments, religious norms, fatigue, hunger, and fear. He immediately acts, committing himself to the complete solution of the case. He is not pushed to act by religious reasons, by the desire to please God, by the calculation of merits to gain heaven by helping the poor, but only by compassion; the fact that he feels pity squeezes his heart. He is moved by the feeling that—while not being aware—it is the projection of what God feels.
Like what Nathan did when he told David the parable of the sheep, Jesus does not give his judgment on the incident. He wants the lawyer to be the one to do so. For this, he poses a question that reverses the one that has been given at the beginning. "Who is my neighbor?"—he was asked. Now he asks: "Which of these three, do you think made himself neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" (v. 36). As we have already mentioned above, the problem is not to determine how far one stretches the boundaries of the term "neighbor," but: who becomes neighbor, who draws near, who is capable of loving, who manifests to have assimilated the merciful conduct of God.
The doctor of the law responds: "The one who had mercy on him" (v. 37). He avoids saying the name ‘Samaritan’ for obvious reasons but is forced to admit that he is the model of one who knows how to make oneself a neighbor. The last words of Jesus to the lawyer summarize the message of the whole parable: “Then go and do the same!” (v. 37). Make yourself a neighbor to the one in need and inherit life.
The parable has an explosive message: whoever loves his neighbor indeed also loves God (cf. 1 Jn 4:7). He may turn him down in words, but in reality, he is not rejecting God; perhaps he only rejects his false image. The ‘Samaritans’ who love the brother and sister in need, perhaps without knowing it, worship the true God.
tags :
Without comments 