My Seven-Minute-Homily, July 14th 2013
Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C
The Book of Deuteronomy 30.10-14; Letter of St. Paul to the Colossians1.15-20 and the Gospel of St. Luke 10. 25-37
In the parable you just heard, Jesus tells the story about a man going down to Jericho from Jerusalem. Jerusalem is on Mt. Zion, and you have to descend nearly 2/3 of a mile to reach Jericho. That road has been a dangerous road for over 4000 years. St. Jerome called it the "Bloody Way" and as late as the 1930's travelers and tourists had to be home by night because robbers would still accost you on that road. It is always a place of wonder: Shepherds were lighting their fires on the hillsides. The hills were close: who knew who hid behind them. It was a strange land for everyone.
This parable is open to so many different meanings. We have heard it so much, it seems simple, but it is not. When Jesus starts his parable, which way is the man going? He’s going from Jerusalem, the City of God down to Jericho, the city of man. Jerusalem was founded by God to be his holy city. Jericho was an old town, pagan, symbolized for material and sinful place.”A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho” means a man left the city of God to the city of man or a city of evil things. People knew that the traveler was walking the wrong way, away from God, into danger, down into a city that had known more about the things of the world than the things of God. We are like that traveler, walking unknowingly into danger, away from God, our lives are at risk. And sure enough, the powers of evil, in this case, robbers, beat the traveler, take everything he has, and leave him for dead.
Why Jesus is telling this story? Jesus wants to answer the question of the lawyer: who is my neighbor?" In other words, how does he really have to practice his faith? What is the bottom line? What is the least he has to do to fulfill God’s law? Notice and appreciate that the victim's condition is stressed by Jesus, not his religion, education, wealth, physical appearance or social level. He was a fellow human and, thus, needed the help of man. So when Jesus tells his story, he talks about a Levite and a priest walking by this injured man. There were about 12, 000 priests and Levites residing in Jericho at the time of Jesus' teaching. They would travel back and forth in their regular work in officiating in the temple in Jerusalem. When a priest came in the vicinity of the victim, one would think the man would have been graciously assisted. However, such was not the case. Jesus said, "…when he saw him, he passed by on the other side." The priest had some means to help and was aware of the need, but he avoided the wounded and beaten man.
The Levites assisted the priests in the performance of religious duties. In the case of the religious Levite we are told, "…came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side." Hence, the Levite was even more deliberate and cold than the priest. I say this because as the Levite had a better view of the victim than the priest, it would appear that even more hardness of heart was required on his part not to assist this fellow human in need. He, too, "…passed by on the other side."
They know God, they know what they should do to God but they do not have neighbor or they did not know what they should do to others as God wants. They leave the man dying, a haft dead his own blood, along the Bloody Way from Jerusalem to Jericho. And then Jesus says "Along came a Samaritan who helped the wounded man." Samaritans were the most hated people in Jesus’ day. Hated by the Romans and the Jews, they had a very bad credit in the society. Who is this Samaritan? Where did he get such courage, wisdom, knowledge to do the faith that the priest and Levite only knew?
Every time we have heard this story, we think of the message of the Gospel: the Samaritan cared about this man who was nothing to him; we should do the same like Jesus told the lawyer at the end of the Gospel “Go and do likewise!” However that is just a part of the message. Another part of the message is Jesus who himself is a Samaritan to us. Jesus comes into the world to rescue humanity, we are just like that traveler, walking the wrong way on the road of life, away from God the Father into danger. Each of us is wounded like that traveler, and like the Samaritan, Jesus, who is rejected by us, has found us dying and has come to save us
So what does Jesus in the role of this Good Samaritan do with the wounded traveler? He is moved with pity; he bandages the wounds; he carries the traveler to an inn. Just like that famous poem, "Footprints," Jesus carries us when we can no longer go on, when we are wounded by confusion, sin or despair. So if the Good Samaritan is Jesus, who is the innkeeper and the inn? The innkeeper and the inn represent the Church. Christ saves humanity and gives human beings into the care of the Church. And Jesus says to the Church, "When I come back, I will repay you for what you have done." That’s why Jesus finishes his parable with a question, Which of the three, priest, Levite, or Samaritan was the real neighbor to the traveler? And the man says the Samaritan. And Jesus says, "Go and do likewise." In other words, Jesus also tells us: You know your faith, practice it! You know who is your neighbor? Love them and care for them like I, the Samaritan did for the injured man and like I do for you and for all human.
Go and do likewise! The Samaritan becomes a good example of faith and of charity. So a true religion is just to worship the Lord or to celebrate liturgy but also do charity and have pity, have compassion on our neighbors. Loving our neighbor as ourselves is what prompted the question asked by the lawyer and Jesus' teaching regarding the Good Samaritan. Our neighbor can be the man who is robbed and left for dead, the man whom we do not even know. Our neighbor is everybody we meet, we work with or we live with. Everyone wants compassion very much. Amen
Father Great Rice
Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C
The Book of Deuteronomy 30.10-14; Letter of St. Paul to the Colossians1.15-20 and the Gospel of St. Luke 10. 25-37
In the parable you just heard, Jesus tells the story about a man going down to Jericho from Jerusalem. Jerusalem is on Mt. Zion, and you have to descend nearly 2/3 of a mile to reach Jericho. That road has been a dangerous road for over 4000 years. St. Jerome called it the "Bloody Way" and as late as the 1930's travelers and tourists had to be home by night because robbers would still accost you on that road. It is always a place of wonder: Shepherds were lighting their fires on the hillsides. The hills were close: who knew who hid behind them. It was a strange land for everyone.
This parable is open to so many different meanings. We have heard it so much, it seems simple, but it is not. When Jesus starts his parable, which way is the man going? He’s going from Jerusalem, the City of God down to Jericho, the city of man. Jerusalem was founded by God to be his holy city. Jericho was an old town, pagan, symbolized for material and sinful place.”A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho” means a man left the city of God to the city of man or a city of evil things. People knew that the traveler was walking the wrong way, away from God, into danger, down into a city that had known more about the things of the world than the things of God. We are like that traveler, walking unknowingly into danger, away from God, our lives are at risk. And sure enough, the powers of evil, in this case, robbers, beat the traveler, take everything he has, and leave him for dead.
Why Jesus is telling this story? Jesus wants to answer the question of the lawyer: who is my neighbor?" In other words, how does he really have to practice his faith? What is the bottom line? What is the least he has to do to fulfill God’s law? Notice and appreciate that the victim's condition is stressed by Jesus, not his religion, education, wealth, physical appearance or social level. He was a fellow human and, thus, needed the help of man. So when Jesus tells his story, he talks about a Levite and a priest walking by this injured man. There were about 12, 000 priests and Levites residing in Jericho at the time of Jesus' teaching. They would travel back and forth in their regular work in officiating in the temple in Jerusalem. When a priest came in the vicinity of the victim, one would think the man would have been graciously assisted. However, such was not the case. Jesus said, "…when he saw him, he passed by on the other side." The priest had some means to help and was aware of the need, but he avoided the wounded and beaten man.
The Levites assisted the priests in the performance of religious duties. In the case of the religious Levite we are told, "…came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side." Hence, the Levite was even more deliberate and cold than the priest. I say this because as the Levite had a better view of the victim than the priest, it would appear that even more hardness of heart was required on his part not to assist this fellow human in need. He, too, "…passed by on the other side."
They know God, they know what they should do to God but they do not have neighbor or they did not know what they should do to others as God wants. They leave the man dying, a haft dead his own blood, along the Bloody Way from Jerusalem to Jericho. And then Jesus says "Along came a Samaritan who helped the wounded man." Samaritans were the most hated people in Jesus’ day. Hated by the Romans and the Jews, they had a very bad credit in the society. Who is this Samaritan? Where did he get such courage, wisdom, knowledge to do the faith that the priest and Levite only knew?
Every time we have heard this story, we think of the message of the Gospel: the Samaritan cared about this man who was nothing to him; we should do the same like Jesus told the lawyer at the end of the Gospel “Go and do likewise!” However that is just a part of the message. Another part of the message is Jesus who himself is a Samaritan to us. Jesus comes into the world to rescue humanity, we are just like that traveler, walking the wrong way on the road of life, away from God the Father into danger. Each of us is wounded like that traveler, and like the Samaritan, Jesus, who is rejected by us, has found us dying and has come to save us
So what does Jesus in the role of this Good Samaritan do with the wounded traveler? He is moved with pity; he bandages the wounds; he carries the traveler to an inn. Just like that famous poem, "Footprints," Jesus carries us when we can no longer go on, when we are wounded by confusion, sin or despair. So if the Good Samaritan is Jesus, who is the innkeeper and the inn? The innkeeper and the inn represent the Church. Christ saves humanity and gives human beings into the care of the Church. And Jesus says to the Church, "When I come back, I will repay you for what you have done." That’s why Jesus finishes his parable with a question, Which of the three, priest, Levite, or Samaritan was the real neighbor to the traveler? And the man says the Samaritan. And Jesus says, "Go and do likewise." In other words, Jesus also tells us: You know your faith, practice it! You know who is your neighbor? Love them and care for them like I, the Samaritan did for the injured man and like I do for you and for all human.
Go and do likewise! The Samaritan becomes a good example of faith and of charity. So a true religion is just to worship the Lord or to celebrate liturgy but also do charity and have pity, have compassion on our neighbors. Loving our neighbor as ourselves is what prompted the question asked by the lawyer and Jesus' teaching regarding the Good Samaritan. Our neighbor can be the man who is robbed and left for dead, the man whom we do not even know. Our neighbor is everybody we meet, we work with or we live with. Everyone wants compassion very much. Amen
Father Great Rice